APREC: Asia-Pacific Regional Education Conference
UNESCO Bangkok is organizing the Asia-Pacific Regional Education Conference (APREC) from 6 to 8 August 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The first in the series of regional education conferences to take place around the world before the World Education Forum 2015 (May 2015, Incheon, Republic of Korea), the Conference aims to celebrate the progress made in Education for All (EFA), recognize that the world has changed since the world education conferences in 1990 and 2000, and catalyze the reflection of regional voices in the global debate on education beyond 2015.
APREC will involve ministers and high-level officials of ministries of education from countries in the region as well as other stakeholders in education, such as civil society organizations, youth organizations, UN agencies, development banks, the private sector and research institutions. The participation is by invitation only. About 400 participants are expected.
The Conference will be divided into two segments – the Regional Dialogue on EFA and Beyond (6-7 August 2014) and the Ministerial Forum on Education Beyond 2015 (7 August 2014 evening and 8 August 2014). Directors and high-level officials of ministries of education will attend the Regional Dialogue on EFA and Beyond. They will review EFA progress and discuss issues, challenges and priorities for education post-2015, which will feed into the draft communiqué. Ministers of education (or their representatives) will attend the Ministerial Forum on Education Beyond 2015. They will discuss and adopt the communiqué of the Conference.
This communiqué will include regional recommendations for the post-2015 global education and development agendas, such as the international framework for action for education 2015-2030 to be adopted at the World Education Forum in May 2015 in Incheon, Republic of Korea and the post-2015 sustainable development goals to be adopted at the UN Summit in September 2015 in New York, USA.
APREC is made possible by the generous support of the Ministry of Education, Thailand, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan and the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea.
Since 2012, UNESCO Bangkok has been actively mobilizing a wide array of stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region to reflect on education beyond 2015 through regional high-level expert meetings and regional consultations. UNESCO Member States are also currently conducting a critical review of EFA progress at the national level to take stock of the achievements and lessons learnt towards identifying the future education agenda. These consultations so far have pointed the direction of the post-2015 education agenda to be anchored in a lifelong and sector-wide perspective, addressing access, equity and quality for all – children, youth and adults - at all levels of education from early childhood care and education to higher education and adult learning across formal, non-formal and informal modalities.
For more information, please contact Ushio Miura [u.miura(at)unesco.org] or Antony Tam [kh.tam(at)unesco.org] at the Education Policy and Reform Unit (EPR).
Written by Antony Tam [kh.tam(at)unesco.org]
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