Kick Off Meeting: ASEM Education Standing Working Group

On the 9th and 10th of December, the Kick Off Meeting of the ASEM Education Standing Working Group will take place in Berlin, Germany. 

The Standing Working Group (SWG) is established in order to support the AES in its strategic work and to develop a strategy paper and action plan (Strategy 2030). ASEM Partners and Stakeholders were invited to become a member of this working group on a permanent basis in order to ensure continuity in the strategic work of the ASEM Education Process.

The establishment and work of this Standing Working Group was recommended by the Education Ministers during ASEMME7 (Bucharest, May 2019) where Ministers invited senior officials:

• (Chair’s Conclusion 54) To establish a permanent Standing Working Group with Terms of Reference (ToR) to support the ASEM Education Secretariat in the strategic work of the ASEM Education Process (development of strategy paper and action plan including the monitoring of the action plan). The Ministers believed that this permanent Standing Working Group can assist the ASEM Education Secretariat in preserving coherence and a result-oriented approach within the ASEM Education Process. The Ministers also encouraged the Standing Working Group to provide the support needed to the ASEM Education Secretariat to meet comprehensive challenges in a long-term perspective in order to avoid loss of expertise and to ensure sustainability and continuity.

The Ministers mandated the ASEM Education Secretariat:

• (Chair’s Conclusion 59) To facilitate and coordinate the preparation and drafting of an ASEM Education Process Vision 2030 strategy paper in cooperation with Senior Officials and the hosts of SOM1 and SOM2 of ASEM ME8 as well as the Standing Working Group.

Purpose

• To set up a SWG that supports the AES in the development of a vision and the monitoring of its action plan;
• The work of SWG should reflect the ASEM Education commitment to considering SDGs and Digitalisation as transversal themes of the ASEM Education Process;
• The developed strategy paper and action plan should facilitate the work of the AES in preparing some guidelines gathering common principles, standardised rules of procedures of the AES in order to assure effective transition and guidance of the next secretariat(s).

Intended Outcome

• A proposition of a ASEM Education Process 2030 Vision to be presented during ASEM ME8;
• Draft guidelines for future secretariat(s).

Intended Schedule

 December 2019: 1^st meeting (kick-off) in Berlin. First Brainstorming, identifying goals and setting up ToR and work schedule; Spring 2020 (back-to-back ISOM or during ISOM): 2^nd meeting. Second Brainstorming, identifying inclusion of transversal themes SDG and Digitalisation;

• Autumn 2020 (back-to-back SOM1 or during SOM1): 3^rd meeting: first draft of a 2030 ASEM Education vision, first draft of AES guidelines;
• Spring 2021 (during SOM2): presentation of the proposition of a 2030 ASEM Education vision and presentation of second draft of AES guidelines;
• Spring 2021 (during ASEM ME8): presentation of a 2030 ASEM Education vision and presentation of final draft AES guidelines.

Between physical meetings, video conferences might be scheduled in order to share presentations and / or feedback of the SWG.

Draft_Terms_of_References_SWG.July.2019.pdf