SEAMEO INNOTECH Center Director and former Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones presented the concerns of the youth in the recently concluded SEAMEO Center Directors Meeting 2023 (CDM) in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Center Directors Meeting is an annual gathering of officials and representatives of 26 SEAMEO Regional Centers, associate member countries, and affiliate member educational institutions and organizations.
In her presentation, Dr. Briones presented the issues and concerns of the youth in facing the current challenges in education across the Southeast Asian region that were debated and heavily discussed during the recently concluded INNOTECH Youth Summit 2023 in June.
Over 200 youth and educators from ten ASEAN countries arrived in the Philippines for the Youth Summit and discussed key issues in civic engagement, digital learning and transformation, entrepreneurship, environmental resiliency, learning support, learning through arts and technology, inclusive education and diversity, psychosocial and mental well-being, and youth leadership.
In her presentation at the Center Directors Meeting 2023, Dr. Briones showcased two key proposals:
1. The Dissemination of the Southeast Asia Youth Call to Action on Transforming Education
2. The inclusion of a youth representative as a dedicated youth program officer in the SEAMEO Secretariat
Both proposals were duly noted by the plenary and would be tackled in further detail in the upcoming SEAMEO High Officials Meeting towards the end of the year.
“Education is the cornerstone of youth empowerment. Through the INNOTECH Youth Forum we held, where the youth themselves led the discussions, identified challenges and opportunities, and introduced their own innovations, we saw how dedicated they were in making drastic and much-needed changes in their own educations and futures," Briones said.
"Now, as their elders, we promised to bring their concerns to the SEAMEO organization, all regional centers, and their respective Ministries of Education. Today, we took the first key step to fulfilling our promise of bringing those concerns to those policymakers and decision-makers across the SEA region," she added.
