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by Prof. K. Tillekeratne , Vice-Chancellor, University of Kelaniya

With the emergence of the new information and communication technologies, the world is being transformed, from what was once an isolated set of different human societies, into a single global system where international cooperation becomes the basis for further progress or even for mere survival.

In this emerging global system, with its growing knowledge economy leading us towards a single global market, knowledge assumes the role of being the key capital. Any nation that fails to take note of this reality, and generate adequate responses, will get marginalized from the mainstream of world affairs. This new situation has implications for all spheres of human activity, including education. My focus here is restricted to the realm of higher education in the context of Sri Lanka.

To face the future, higher education in Sri Lanka will require a series of fundamental reforms in its content and approach, such as

- recognizing higher education as a right open to all providing for it;

- moving away from provider driven, teacher centred approaches in the curriculum towards customer driven, learner centred approaches;

- making educational programmes more flexible with regard to location, time, pace, and the entry and exit points;

- Replacing the front-end loaded, terminal certification model of education with a model for providing life-long learning.

In order to achieve these changes the system should acquire new know-how as well as resources, both of which can be attracted through international cooperation. The Universities are no longer able to function effectively in isolation. Future of higher education lies in co-operative efforts of Universities, at both national and international levels, through such arrangements as links, partnerships, synergies, consortia, and associations. In coming to such arrangements, sometimes, government to government negotiations between countries may become necessary.

The specific aim of this article is to identify one regional organization, namely the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) in which I strongly feel that Sri Lanka should seek Associate Membership. My hope is that the article would arouse the interest of the stakeholders in higher education, and would induce the relevant governmental authorities to explore the possibility of Sri Lanka obtaining Association Membership of SEAMEO.

SEAMEO, established in 1965, is a dynamic, self reliant, strategic policy-driven and internationally recognised regional organisation for strengthening regional understanding and cooperation in education, science and culture for a better quality of life. Presently the membership of SEAMEO comprises 10 countries viz: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, DPR Lao, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand are Associate members of the Organisation. The Article II on Membership of the SEAMEO Charter reads as follows:

1. The original Member States of this Organisation shall be: Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the Republic of Vietnam.

2. South East Asian States not members of the Organisation may be admitted as Member States by a two-third majority vote of the South East Asian Ministers of Education Council.

3. The Organisation may admit Associate Members and Affiliate Members under terms and conditions determined by the Council.

4. Any Member State of the Organisation may withdraw from the Organisation by notice addressed to the Secretariat. Such notice shall take effect on 31 December of the year following the year during which the notice is given. Such withdrawal shall not affect the financial obligations owed to the Organisation on the date the withdrawal takes effect.

Evidently non South East Asian states cannot aspire to become full members of SEAMEO.

However, according to the terms and conditions of Associate Membership produced verbatim below, Associate Membership shall be open to any country which is willing to promote cooperation amongst South East Asian Nations through education, science and culture.

Terms and Conditions of Associate Membership read as follows:

1. Associate Membership shall be open to any country which is willing to promote cooperation among South East Asian nations through education, science and culture.

2. (i) Associate Membership shall be approved by a two third majority of the Council;

(ii) This approval may be given by referendum.

3. The withdrawal procedure of an Associate Member from the Organisation shall be the same as that of a Member State, namely: any Associate Member of the Organisation may withdraw from the Organisation by notice addressed to the Secretariat. Such notice shall take effect on 31 December of the year following the year during which the notice is given. Such withdrawal shall not affect the financial obligations owed to the Organisation on the date the withdrawal takes effect.

4. An Associate Member may participate in the programmes of the various Centres/Projects and the number of participants in each programme is to be decided by the Centres/Project concerned; the cost of such participation shall be at the same rates as charged to participants of Member States and shall be borne by the Associate Member.

5. (i) An Associate Member shall have the right to send representatives to Council and other SEAMEO meetings and participate in their proceedings but shall have no voting rights.

(ii) An Associate Member shall have the same number of representatives on each Governing Board as a Member State has but without voting rights. The expenses of the representatives shall be borne by the Associate Member.

6. An Associate Member shall make an annual financial contribution to the Organisation, the amount of which shall be fixed by the Council.

7. As in the case of Member States of the Organisation, an Associate Member will consider making voluntary contributions to the SEAMEO Educational Development Fund.

The fourteen Regional Centres set up under SEAMEO, listed below, conduct a wide range of activities annually in the field of higher education and most of the programmes are of direct relevance to the Sri Lanka situation.

1. Tropical biology SEAMEO BIOTROP, Indonesia

2. Educational innovation and technology SEAMEO INNOTECH, Philippines

3. Education in science and mathematics SEAMEO RECSAM, Malaysia

4. Language education SEAMEO RELC, Singapore

5. Higher education SEAMEO RIHED, Thailand

6. Open learning SEAMEO SEAMOLEC, Indonesia

7. Regional training SEAMEO RTC, Vietnam

8. Graduate study and research in agriculture SEAMEO SEARCA, Philippines

9. Archaeology and fine arts SEAMEO SPAFA, Thailand

10-13 Tropical medicine and public health SEAMEO TROPMED, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand

14. Vocational and technical educational SEAMEO VOCTECH, Brunei Darussalam

All the fourteen Centres are connected with various aspects of education. Of them the Centre that is directly relevant to higher education is Regional Institute for Higher Education Development (RIHED) (listed as No. 5 above). The main activities of SEAMEO RIHED include training, research, and information dissemination with special focus on fostering the efficiency and effectiveness of higher education policy and planning, management and administration. SEAMEO RIHED also serves as a Regional Centre and clearing-house for higher education information and documentation, promoting the exchange and dissemination of information and research findings on higher education planning and management, both within and outside the region.

The Centres other than SEAMEO RIHED, though not of direct relevance to the higher education sector, can be extremely useful to a number of other service sectors in the country. The advantages of joining SEAMEO are many and wide ranging.

As mentioned earlier my intention in publishing this article is to draw the attention of all individuals and institutions that have an interest in higher education to the value of Sri Lanka joining SEAMEO, with the hope that the opportunity will be explored and exploited at appropriate levels.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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