The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation

Regional Centre for Lifelong Learning

Developing a Post2015 ASEAN Lifelong

Learning Agenda

Project proposal
April 2015

Outline
1. Background and Rationale
2. Project design
2.1. Personnel
2.2. Project plan
3. Monitoring and Evaluation
3.1. Monitoring
3.2. Evaluation

1. Background and Rationale

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic
organisation of 111 nations in Southeast Asia (SEA). Since its conception in 1967
ASEAN has been the regional driver for peace, stability, economic growth, sociocultural development and above all unity.
ASEAN member states cover an area of 4.46 million square kilometres and are
home to 625 million people (9% of worlds population). Together they constitute
one of the most dynamic regions in the world with an average economic growth
of 5.3%2. Remarkable progress has also been made in the field of human
development, especially Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) (Table 1).
Table 1. Some ASEAN EFA and MDG achievements
1990
Population below $1.25 (%)
45
Employment to population (%)
54
Literacy rate of 15-24 years old (%)
93.1
Infant mortality rate (/1000)
59
Ratio of girls to boys in primary education
0.95
(/1)
Ratio of girls to boys in secondary education
0.87
(/1)
Primary education net enrolment (%)
86

2010
15
60
98.5
27
0.96
0.98
91

Nonetheless, ASEAN is still facing critical challenges because of, and not limited
to, disparities in living standards, ageing populations and lack of human
resources. These challenges have become even more urgent given the current
context of ASEAN Community 2015 (AC15).
AC15 refers to the regional integration of all ASEAN countries and is founded
upon three pillars: ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC), and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC); in other words,
it is the realisation of the ASEAN Motto: One Vision, One Identity, One
Community. This creates a fair and accessible environment where member
states can benefit from a rule-based community of shared values and norms, a
single market and production base and an inclusive society. With collaboration,
however, comes competition, and given the aforementioned challenges, ASEAN
is under pressure to improve its education. By convention this can be achieved
by updating or reforming whole national curricula, but such solution is
problematic: On the one hand, it entails immense economic burden (e.g. money
has to be spent on new textbook design, teacher training, equipment); on the
other, even the most state-of-the-art curriculum, along with all the knowledge it
provides, will eventually be outdated and thus sub-optimal or even invalid.
1 Strictly speaking, at present (2015) Timor-Leste is not yet an ASEAN member state, but in this
proposed project only, the term ASEAN also includes Timor-Leste.

2 In comparison, the average growth of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries is
3%.

Lifelong learning (LLL) appears to be a strong alternative since it focuses on

learners as dynamic actors who can adapt and reinvent themselves; in fact, it
has been a trend in ASEAN the past decade (SEAMEO, 2011). The ASEAN Charter
2007 states that member countries should join efforts to develop human
resources through closer cooperation in education and lifelong learning (Chapter
1, Article 1); this was reiterated in the 15th ASEAN Summit in 2009, where LLL
was considered a primary factor in the ASCC pillar. The Asia-Europe (ASEM) LLL
Conference further suggested that a LLL centre be established in the region,
serving as a bridge to the European Community; this was realised on March 20
2013 with the official establishment of the Regional Centre for Lifelong Learning
(CELLL) following the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) and the
Government of Vietnam in Ha Noi.
Despite all the attention it receives, LLL in SEA leaves much to be desired. This is
caused by a lack of consensus over how LLL should be conceptualised, which,
coupled with the socio-economic diversity and complexity in the region, has led
to various levels of LLL development with many countries staying at the lower
end. As a consequence, there is no standardised agenda for LLL, and regional
coordination in this matter has been wanting.
It can be strongly argued that research is the first step to solve this problem. A
large scale exploratory study into LLL in ASEAN will greatly assist in building a
common foundation for understanding and developing LLL. Unfortunately, there
is paucity in both theoretical and empirical works in the ASEAN context due to
the availability of data and research capacity.
In view of all the above, this project is proposed with an aim to create the first
regional LLL agenda. To this end, it will comprise two components: an empirical
study into LLL in every ASEAN country and an agenda drafted based on its
findings.

2. Project design
2.1. Personnel
The projects personnel organisation is illustrated in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. Personnel organisation

The project is run by a Management Board, formed by three groups. The Policy
Group consists of one senior ministerial official per country appointed by his/her
Minister of Education, and is chaired by the one from Indonesia. The members
represent their respective governments and will be in charge of supervising the
project, reviewing the agenda, as well as communicating and holding
accountability with the Stakeholders. The Expert Group is made up of three
academics specialising in continuing/non-formal education who will be shortlisted
from a pool of candidates nominated by the Ministries (one candidate per
country); group members will then vote among themselves and elect a chair.
This group will design and monitor the study, analyse the data and draft the
agenda while maintaining close dialogues with the Policy Group. Two SEAMEO
CELLL members will comprise the Coordination Group, whose main
responsibilities are facilitating smooth operation, co-monitoring data collection
and evaluating the whole project; in addition, there will be an ad-hoc expert for
publication.
For each country, there will be a National Committee of one Focal Point, who is
the Director-General (or Deputy-Director) of Continuing/Non-formal Education
Department, and two to five native researchers appointed by the Ministry. The
committees will collect and process data in their countries and compile quarterly
progress reports (for two quarters) that result in a national report, all of which
will be submitted to the Expert Group (see Section 3.1).
Last but definitely not least, the project will be supported by the Stakeholders,
formed by one representative from each of these organisations: SEAMEO CELLL,
UIL, DVV International, UNESCO Bangkok and ASPBAE. The Stakeholders will
mostly function in an advisory role.
Note: For a detailed summary of roles and responsibilities, requirements for
academics in the Expert Group and National Committees, and an estimate of
costs, see the Appendix.

2.2. Project plan

The project is divided into four stages and expected to span 14 months (Table 2).
Table 2. Project plan

Project inauguration

Project Management Board and National Committees

formation

Stage

1
3 months

Stakeholders introduction
work guidelines
action plan

Study design

uniform report format

Research training

quantitative and qualitative methodology

The study

data collection
monitoring (quarterly)

Agenda drafting

data compilation and analysis

Consultation seminar
Stakeholders input
evaluation (survey)

Stage 2
6 months

Stage 3
2 months

Stage 4
3 months

Final conference
agenda introduction
evaluation (interview)

Documentation

evaluation (document analysis)

publication
Stage 1 serves a preparatory role as it establishes the necessary personnel, work
guidelines, action plan. More importantly, most of the time budget in this stage
will be spent on designing the study for Stage 2, including a uniform report
format, and research training which is oriented towards practical aspects of both
quantitative and qualitative methodology (e.g. how to compute descriptive
statistics, how to formulate interview questions).
Stage 2 is the study into LLL in ASEAN - the first component of the project. In this
stage, each National Committee will collect and process data of LLL conditions in
their countries, report their progress to the Expert Group on a quarterly basis
(see Section 3.1) and, towards the end of Stage 2, submit a national report.
With all the processed data collected, the Expert Group will proceed to analyse
them in Stage 3. The findings will then inform the content of the agenda - the
second component of the project.
The last Stage commences once the draft of the agenda, along with the Expert
Groups analysis, is ready. First, a consultation seminar will be held where

Stakeholders will contribute to the agenda by giving additional input, with which
the complete agenda will be composed. The final conference then follows with
the introduction of the finalised agenda. Lastly, the agenda, as well as all other
documents (e.g. research reports, meeting proceedings) which are compiled into
a project report, will be published. Project evaluation will also be performed in
Stage 4 (see Section 3.2).

3. Monitoring and Evaluation

3.1. Monitoring
Monitoring focuses on Stage 2 and is twofold in intent: ensuring progress and
enhancing data validity and reliability. It will be performed by the Expert Group
every quarter for two quarters at both national and regional levels. Each quarter,
the Focal Points are responsible for supervising data collection in their respective
countries and compiling a progress report for the Expert Group. Academics from
the latter review all the reports and can request additional data if necessary;
they will afterwards report the overall regional progress to the rest of the
Management Board. However, should they find data from a country particularly
lacking and/or unusual, they may, with consensus among themselves and from
the Management Board, visit that country for on-site monitoring. The Policy
Group will, upon receipt, present the regional quarterly progress report to the
Stakeholders, who may give additional input, and is accountable to them.
It should also be noted that even though there will be two regional quarterly
progress reports, the first can be said to be more important as it determines
whether the Management Board should make adjustments for the last quarter.
Throughout Stage 2, the Coordination Group will assist in the monitoring process
and, more importantly, facilitate close dialogues among all parties.
3.2. Evaluation
Evaluation will be conducted in Stage 4 by the Coordination Group with a view to
assessing the project and providing recommendations for future endeavours. It
starts with a survey which will be administered in the consultation seminar; this
survey aims to measure the effectiveness of every stage, as well as the attitude
of all those involved. The survey may also reveal issues with various aspects of
the project, ranging from planning to execution; these issues will be noted and
studied afterwards.
Following the survey, structured interviews will be held in the final meeting. Each
Management group, National Committee and Stakeholder will elect one person to
represent them as interviewee. This method seeks to gain insights into what they
think about the project and, by raising the issues found in the survey, carefully
looks at its drawbacks.
Document analysis will be employed after the final meeting. This looks at every
major document, especially this proposal, the study and the agenda in order to
investigate whether the agenda observes its purpose and whether it is wellgrounded in empirical evidence.
Evaluation results will be compiled and sent to every project personnel and
archived for reference.

References
SEAMEO, 2011. Proposal on the Establishment of the SEAMEO Regional Centre
for Lifelong Learning in Vietnam.
ASEAN Charter, 2007.

Appendix 1: Roles and responsibilities

ROLES

RESPONSIBILITIES

Policy Group

Expert Group

Coordination
Group

National
Committees

establish work guidelines and action plan with the Expert

Group
review and approve the complete agenda
hold accountability with Stakeholders
(members) advise the Chair on issues related to LLL
policies in their respective countries
establish work guidelines and action plan with the Policy
Group
decide on research design for use across the 11 countries
participate and contribute to research training
monitor data collection in Stage 2 with the Coordination
Group
analyse national reports submitted by the 11 National
Committees
draft the agenda
receive inputs from Stakeholders to complete the agenda
compose the project report
facilitate all official dialogues between all parties involved
monitor the overall process and coordinate activities
monitor data collection in Stage 2 with the Expert Group
evaluate the whole project
oversee publication of the project report, evaluation
results and the agenda
collect and process data of LLL in their countries
produce quarterly progress reports and a national report
(focal point) supervise the National Committee of their
own countries
(focal point) serve as a linkage to the Management Board

Appendix 2: Requirements for academics

Academic requirements

Doctorate degree in Education

Strong publication profile in continuing/non-formal education or relevant
field
or At least two years of research experience in continuing/non-formal
education or relevant field

English language requirements

Certificates must be dated to within two years of the start of the project

IELTS 7 with Writing no less than 6.5

or TOEFL iBT 94 with Writing no less than 24

Appendix 3: Cost estimates

CO
DE
1
1.1

1.2

COSTS
Quantit Cost per
y Units Unit ($)

Total ($)

UIL

participan
ts

11

1,000

11,000

11,000

participan
ts

33

1,000

33,000

participan
ts
participan
ts
participan
ts
lump-sum

1,000

3,000

11

1,000

11,000

1,000

2,000

Unit
CATEGORY

Meetings, Training, Workshops,

Seminars
Inauguration meeting and
research training (proposed
venue: Indonesia)
Air tickets and accommodations
for focal points of National
Committees (one delegate per
country)
Air tickets and accommodations
for researchers of National
Committees (3 researchers per
country--actual number may
vary from 2 to 5)
Air tickets and accommodations
for 3 experts (Expert group)
Air tickets and accommodations
for policy group
Air tickets and accommodations
for Coordination group
Meeting venue, meals during
event
Consultation Meeting (proposed
venue: SEAMEO CELLL)

10,000

CONTRIBUTION
Participati
SEAMEO
ng
CELLL
Governme
nts

33,000

3,000
11,000
2,000
10,000

Stakeholders

1.3

1.4

Air tickets and accommodations

for members of National
Committees (2 delegates per
country)
Air tickets and accommodations
for 3 experts (Expert group)
Air tickets and accommodations
for stakeholders (dvv, UiL,
UNESCO Bangkok, ASPBAE)
Meeting venue, meals during
event
Final conference (proposed
venue: SEAMEO country)
Air tickets and accommodations
for members of National
committees (2 delegates per
country)
Air tickets and accommodations
for Coordination group
Air ticket and accommodations
for an ad-hoc consultant
Air tickets and accommodations
for 3 experts
Air tickets and accommodations
for stakeholders (dvv, UiL,
UNESCO Bangkok, ASPBAE)
Air tickets and accommodations
for policy group
Meeting venue, meals during
event
National conferences (depend
on each country)

participan
ts

22

800

17,600

17,600

participan
ts
participan
ts

800

2,400

2,400

10

1,500

15,000

lump-sum

15,000

5,000

5,000

participan
ts

22

1,000

22,000

22,000

participan
ts
participan
ts
participan
ts
participan
ts

1,000

2,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

3,000

3,000

10

1,500

15,000

participan
ts
lump-sum

11

1,000

11,000

11,000

10,000

10,000

lump-sum

11

5,000

55,000

55,000

Sub-

229,000

2,000

15,000

60,000

97,000

9,000

30,000

total 1
2

Consulting Services (salary)

2.1

International LLL Expert 1 Expert group member

International LLL Expert 2 Expert group member
International LLL Expert 3 Expert group member
Ad-hoc consultant for
publishing

2.2
2.3
2.4

National Committees services

3.1

Office space, equipment,

supplies
Local transportation, staff
working hours, airport transfer,
per diem, etc. of national
committees members

3.2

person
month
person
month
person
month
person
month

8,000

16,000

16,000

8,000

16,000

16,000

8,000

16,000

16,000

3,000

3,000

3,000

Subtotal 2

51,000

51,000

lump-sum

11

5,000

55,000

55,000

lump-sum

11

10,000

110,000

110,000

Subtotal 3

165,000

165,000

10,000
10,000

10,000
10,000

lump-sum
Subtotal 4

5.1

Publishing
Books, reports, guidelines

Equipment, supplies and project

management
Office space, Equipment,
supplies (at SEAMEO CELLL
premises)

lump-sum

10,000

10,000

5.2

Project management (local

transportation, staff working
hours of coordination group)

lump-sum

20,000

Subtotal 5
6

20,000

30,000

30,000

Contingency

10,000

10,000

TOTAL

495,000

131,00
0

262,000

39,000

30,000