Vol 03 July-September/2016

Highlights
Visit by Minister of MOET, Viet Nam

Towards an ASEAN Lifelong Learning

Agenda Updates

SEAMEO Centre Directors Meeting 2016

Visit by SEAMEO VOCTECH and SEAMES

 Centre
In This Issue

Visits
3 SEAMEO Centre Directors Meeting (CDM) 2016

3 SEAMEO CELLL Inks MOU with SEAMEO BIOTROP

4 SEAMEO VOCTECH 27th Governing Board Meeting - 2016

Consultation Meeting on Regional Guidelines on CLCs and

4 Adult Competencies for Lifelong Learning

9 Developing Community Learning Centres - The Experience from Vietnam

Capacity
Building

13 Upcoming Events
Centre Visit by Minister of Education and Training, Vietnam 1

Conference Room Inaugurated by H.E. Dr. Phung Xuan Nha 2

Meeting with ASEM LLL Hub Representative 7

Meeting with Danish Delegation 7

Visit by SEAMEO VOCTECH GBM Delegation and SEAMES Representative 8

Visibility
Centre

Update on the Project Towards an ASEAN Lifelong Learning Agenda 5

LLL Corner
Regional Workshop of SEAMEO Centre Managing and Integrating Data 2016 11

Training Workshop on Public Sector Asset Management 11

Centre Renovation 12

IELTS Training Programme by SEAMEO CELLL 13

Update on SEAMEO CELLL Staff 14

O n 22 September 2016, H.E. Dr.
Phung Xuan Nha, Minister of
Education and Training, Vietnam
and the delegation from MOET paid a visit
to SEAMEO CELLLs premises.
Commencing the reception, Mr Le Huy
Lam, Centre Director, briefed the Minister
and the delegation on the Centres profile
and its main achievements during the first
three years of operation. Mr Lam
subsequently presented the Centres
merits and demerits since its official
establishment and formally requested the
Ministers kind support and counselling in
this regard.
1
H.E. Dr. Phung Xuan Nha acknowledged the
Centres difficulties and took cognizance of
its striving effort throughout the period. The
Minister accented that, as a Regional Centre
for Lifelong Learning, SEAMEO CELLL should
find a way to translate its vision and mission
so as to distinguish itself and function
properly. Specifically, he suggested the
Centre concentrate on research and
consultancy on lifelong learning and share its
expertise to concerned individuals and
organisations. In addition, he positively
encouraged SEAMEO CELLL to establish
strong connections with ASEAN countries
and gain from their valuable experience.
T his occasion also witnessed the ribbon
cutting ceremony for SEAMEO CELLLs
recently renovated conference room as it
The ceremony brought the centre visit
to an end. The Centre Director passed
his remarks concerning updating the
was inaugurated by H.E. Dr. Phung Xuan Minister on SEAMEO CELLLs
Nha. He congratulated the Centre on this upcoming programmes and their
major upgradation. possible outcome.
The conference room underwent
refurbishment early this September to
achieve adequate standard for the Centres
future research and training programmes.

2
 the
Theregion. The result
CDM serves of everyforCDM
as platform will
discussion
beamong
submitted
SEAMEOtoCentressubsequent relevantis-
on operational
SEAMEO
sues andmeetings such
inter-centre as the SEAMEO
collaborative projects
as well
High as a venue
Officials for partners
Meeting and to network
SEAMEO
with SEAMEO
Council Centres towards
Conference. initiatives
Relevant agendathat
will benefit
items and the region. Thewill
agreements resultalso
of every
be
CDM will be submitted to subsequent
presented to the Governing Boards of the rele-
vant SEAMEO
SEAMEO Centres meetings
at theirsuch as the SEAMEO
Governing Board
High Officials Meeting and SEAMEO Council
Meetings, which routinely convene
Conference. Relevant agenda items and
immediately afterwards.
agreements will also be presented to the

TC he DMninth
Meeting
2016
2016 (9th
2016Bangkok,
in Selangor,
ASEAN
ASED)
at the
Education
was held
S31 was
Malaysia
Thailand with in
on 27-29Ministers
July
held onHotel,
Sukhumvit 25 May
conjunction
the
Governing Boards of the SEAMEO Centres at
AtGoverning
the CDMBoard 2016,
presented a working
with convene
participation
SEAMEO
Meetings, CELLL
which routinely
paper on its afterwards.
immediately proposal
towards a lifelong learning agenda for
the of
Third ASEAN
more thanPlus90 Three Education
delegates from Minis-
21 SEAMEO countries.
At the CDM2016, This is
SEAMEO thepresented
CELLL Centres a
tersCentres/Network,
Meeting (3rd APT EMM)the and theSEAMEO
Third East
flagship project
working paper under
on its proposaltechnical
towards aand
life-
AsiaSecretariat,
Summit Education
SEAMEOMinisters
Affiliate Meeting
Members, (3rd
long learning
financial agenda
funding of theforUNESCO
SEAMEO Institute
countries,
EAS invited
EMM). partners and observers which is theLearning
Centres (based
flagshipinproject under
for Lifelong Hamburg,
The from
Meeting was presided by H.E.
Cambodia, Indonesia and Lao Dato
PDR.Seri technical and financial funding of the
Germany).
Mahdzir
The CDM Khalid,serves
Minister
as aof platform
Educationfor of UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (based
Malaysia and developed
discussion among SEAMEOon the theme
Centresof on
Fos- in Hamburg, Germany).
tering ASEAN Community
operational issues ofandLearners: Empow-
inter-centre
ering Lives through
collaborative Education,
projects which
as well as aemphasis-
venue
es the
forprofound significance
partners to of education
network that in en-
will benefit
hancing life quality and offering children and
young generations opportunity to participate in
and benefit from the realisation of a prosper-

S
SEAMEO
EAMEO CELLL formalised its collaboration with
SEAMEOSEAMEO
Regionalby
(BIOTROP)
RegionalitsCentre
CELLL formalized
Centre for Tropical
signing
for Tropical
collaboration
a Biology
with Biology
(BIOTROP) of
Memorandum
by Understanding
signing a Memorandum of Understanding
on 27 July 2016 during the on 27 special
July
2016 during the
session of special
SEAMEO session of SEAMEO
Centre Centre
Directors Di-
Meeting
rectors
(CDM)Meeting
held (CDM) held in Bangkok,
in Bangkok, Thailand.Thailand.
Like SEAMEO
CELLL, SEAMEO BIOTROP is one of the 21 Centres/
Like SEAMEO CELLL, BIOTROP is one of the 21 centres of
Network of excellence of SEAMEO whose vision is
excellence of SEAMEO whose vision is to promote and
to promote and enrich the real value of tropical
enrich the real value of tropical biology in Southeast in
biologyAsia.
Southeast in Southeast Asia.

3
O n 05-07 September 2016, SEAMEO VOCTECH organised their 27th Governing
Board Meeting at Saigon Vissai Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. SEAMEO
VOCTECH invited SEAMEO CELLL to give a presentation on
the theme TVET Initiatives in Strengthening Regional
Cooperation and Mr Mai Hong Quan, SEAMEO
CELLLs Deputy Manager of Research and Training
was designated as the guest presenter. In his
presentation, Mr Quan pointed out the tight
relationship between LLL and TVET, highlighting
that TVET is an important integral component of
LLL and stressing that the transformative TVET
must emphasise on LLL so as to bring TVET not only
to young people and adults but also to all individuals
who wish to participate in learning activities. To conclude the
presentation, he mentioned the urgent need of the endorsement of Vietnams
National Qualification Framework and underlined that the implementation of such a
framework will tremendously benefit the country in the context of the ASEAN
Economic Community.

U nder the auspices of the

project Transforming
Education and Training Systems to
Create Lifelong Learning Societies in
the Asia-Pacific funded by the
Government of Japan to assist
countries in the region in reorienting
their education and training systems
towards building lifelong learning
societies, UNESCO Bangkok and
ASPBAE conducted a Consultation
Meeting on the regional standards The inputs from the experts will be
of the CLCs and the framework for synthesised, enriched and translated
adult skills and competencies in the into two regional documents: (1)
Asia-Pacific, held at Holiday Inn, Guidelines/Recommendations on
Bangkok, on 13-14 September 2016. Community Learning Centres (CLCs) as
SEAMEO CELLL was among invited Facilitators of Lifelong Learning; and
16 national experts to be actively (2) Guidelines/Recommendations on
involved in the discussion. Adult Skills and Competencies for
Lifelong Learning.

4
 April-September 2016
Proceeded with the second stage wherein
best practices on a variety of aspects of
lifelong learning and underlying
government policies from SEAMEO 4-5 October 2016
Member Countries were collected. Expert Meeting to present
the findings of the study
for discussion and
July 2016 recommendations
Called for consultancy which subsequently
benefits the project with two notable
consultants:
Prof. Dr. Heribert Wilhelm Hinzen and November 2016
Prof. Dr. Chris Duke National reports
finalisation

3 March 2016
Planning Meeting on Towards an
ASEAN Lifelong Learning Agenda

Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
Indonesia
Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar

5
 Prof.(H) Dr. Dr. h. c.(H) Heribert Wilhelm Hinzen
Senior Policy Advisor of DVV International
Author, Editor and Publisher of articles, books, studies and
research reports on Adult Education and Lifelong Learning
Convenor, Moderator and Presenter of international conferences
and meetings on Adult Education and Lifelong Learning
Prof. Dr. Chris Duke
Honorary Professor of Lifelong Learning at the Universities of
Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland and Leicester in England
Rapporteur for published reports of many international
conferences
Author, Editor and Publisher of articles, books, studies and
research reports on Adult Education and Lifelong Learning

Brunei Darussalam Singapore

Indonesia Timor Leste
Lao PDR Vietnam

Vietnam

Timor Leste

Thailand

Singapore
Philippines

6
 ASEM LLL Hub and SEAMEO CELLL are going to jointly
convene an international conference entitled
Lifelong Learning and Resilience in Disaster
Management: Asian and European
Perspectives on 8-10 November 2016 at
the Rex Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
In this connection, on 1 August 2016,
SEAMEO CELLL was pleased to welcome
Mr Anders Martinsen, Head of the ASEM
LLL Hub Secretariat to discuss initial
preparation pertaining to the conference. In
the meeting, the two parties agreed on
responsibilities each should shoulder in terms
of the conferences agenda and relevant logistics
arrangements.

O n 8 9 September 2016, SEAMEO CELLL

had the pleasure to welcome the Danish
representatives of University College of Northern
Denmark including Mr Ren Martin Larsen, Mr
Peter Wendelbo Jensen and Mr Lars Alr Olesen.

The delegation aimed to investigate long-term

viability of educational cooperation between the
two countries and searched for potential areas
wherein more Danish courses could be offered to
Vietnamese students. As SEAMEO CELLL was
among potential partners, a meeting was
arranged to discuss possibility of further
collaboration. Mr Le Huy Lam, Centre Director,
acknowledged their intention and suggested
some possible directions for cooperation and
subsequently proposed a needs analysis meeting
between Vietnamese rectors, Danish rectors and
managers of CLCs Vietnam at the beginning of
November.
7
O n 7 September 2016, SEAMEO VOCTECH
Governing Board Meeting Delegation and
Dr Tinsiri Siribodhi, SEAMEO Secretariat Deputy
Dr Tinsiri congratulated SEAMEO
CELLL on its achievements during the
past few years of operation and paid
Director paid a visit to SEAMEO CELLLs premises. a compliment on its constant effort
Mr Le Huy Lam, Centre Director and the Centre to leapfrog into the current position.
staff warmly welcomed the delegation. During By the end of the visit, the delegates
the visit, the convivial atmosphere pervaded; the were invited to quickly tour around
welcoming session was initiated by self- the Centre and especially take a look
introductions of the two Centres regarding their at some newly renovated features of
profiles and notable achievements. It was closely the building.
followed by experience exchange on lifelong
learning and TVET, the two subjects which bear
continuing relevance. SEAMEO CELLL expects
further cooperation between the two
Centres to gain more from SEAMEO
VOCTECHs extensive expertise.

On this occasion, the Centre Director

provided updates on SEAMEO CELLLs
flagship project Towards an ASEAN Lifelong
Learning Agenda; the delegation expressed
support to the project.
8
The subject of lifelong learning has been
increasingly prevailing in ASEAN in the past
decade. As lifelong learning is gaining
continuing popularity, community learning
centres (CLCs) have occupied an important
place in the learning society. Prior to the
widespread of CLCs, continuing education
centres (CECs) have long been in existence
in Vietnam to cater for diverse learning
needs of the people. However, as CECs are
only at a provincial and district level, their
provision for educational opportunities
seems not wholly adequate. Hence, with
the support of Japan National Federation
of UNESCO Association of Japan (NFUAJ)
and The Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA), the establishment of 10
CLCs in Vietnam in 1998 1999 is of
crucial significance. According to 2013
data from national reports to UNESCO,
Vietnam was the nation that had the most
CLCs in the region (with 10, 826).
9
In 2015, 11,000 CLCs were in operation
nationwide. Currently, almost all wards
and villages have a CLC to satisfy the local
demands and the number of CLCs is
positively on an upward trend.
CLCs in Vietnam have served four main
functions as follows: Education and
Training, Information and Consultation,
Community Development, Network and
Coordination. In particular, they offer
programmes strongly correlating with
public needs such as literacy education,
agricultural techniques or income
generation skills. Nearly two decades have
passed since the establishment of the first
CLCs, Vietnamese society has experienced
positive changes: illiteracy rate has been
declining and poverty has been alleviated.
Additionally, people lead a healthier
lifestyle with better community cohesion
and higher law awareness.
Dominant as they might be, the operation
of CLCs is still facing unavoidable
challenges in terms of quality,
effectiveness and sustainability. The
aforementioned difficulties could be
attributable to various reasons. First,
intermittently available funding takes a
heavy toll on the management of CLC
while various costs need covering.
Second, regarding infrastructure, the
fact that CLC offices are commonly shared
with existing buildings such as schools or
cultural houses limits CLC functioning to
some extent. Third, incumbent and rotary
management along with the lack of
dedicated staff also has a negative impact
on CLCs as a whole. Last but not least,
teachers or facilitators, who exert direct
influence on learners, usually work on a
voluntary basis without prior knowledge in
terms of adult education. Consequently,
efficient CLC management is a matter of
concern that managers need to deal with.
Aware of those problematic issues faced by
CLCs in Vietnam, SEAMEO CELLL, as the
Regional Centre for Lifelong Learning, is
working towards activities aiming at
enhancing CLC operational capacity.
Specifically, with the motive of learning
from the effective model of Japanese CLCs,
in November 2014, deriving support from
the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science & Technology, Japan (MEXT) and
the university of Tsukuba, MOET Vietnam
and SEAMEO CELLL successfully organised
the workshop KOMINKAN The
Successful Japanese Model of CLCs and
Lessons to be Learned with Prof. Dr.
Teuchi Akitoshi, University of Tsukuba,
Japan as a keynote speaker.
10
The following year witnessed the
follow-up of the aforementioned
workshop: Curriculum Development for
CLCs held in November 2015. The
workshop provided the participants -
managers of CLCs - with relevant
knowledge concerning curriculum
development and offered them the
opportunity to practise constructing a
curriculum under the direction of Prof. Dr.
Teuchi Akitoshi, Chair of Doctoral Program
in Education, an expert at Japanese CLC
operation. On 23 June this year, to
continue the chain of events on boosting
CLC management capacity, SEAMEO CELLL
hosted a training workshop on ICT for the
Effective Lesson for teachers of CLCs in Ho
Chi Minh City and the neighbouring
provinces to assist them in designing more
effective and engaging lessons with the aid
of technology. The workshop facilitator was
Mr. Khau Huu Phuoc - Manager of the
Research and Training Department of
SEAMEO CELLL. The chain of workshops
was well attended and received positive
feedback from the participants, indicating
widespread interest in the subject. In this
connection, SEAMEO CELLLs training
orientation is to conduct more training
activities regarding CLC operation to satisfy
local demands.
A s a response to SEAMEO Secretariats
request of a SEAMEOs Big Data, the
Regional Workshop of SEAMEO Centre
Managing and Integrating Data took place
on 10-14 August, 2016 at SEAMOLEC Office,
Jakarta, Indonesia. The main objective of
this training is to develop data and
information of SEAMEO Centres (profile,
programme, report, journal, etc.).
Mr Mai Hong Quan, Deputy Manager of
Research and Training was delegated to
participate. At the workshop, Mr Quan took
part in discussing the structure of data for
the SEAMEOs cluster of Education
(together with the other clusters of Science
and Culture) and familiarised himself with
the use of the platform Open KM for
knowledge management. He also had a
chance to widen his professional network
by getting acquainted with more than 30
colleague participants, and thus tightening
the good relationships between SEAMEO
Centres in the region.
The workshop concluded with a certificate
awarding ceremony and a cultural visit
to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful
Indonesia Miniature Park). After the
workshop, instructions regarding follow-up
steps were delivered by SEAMEO
Secretariat to actualise SEAMEOs Big Data.

O n 28 July 2016, Mr Phan Tri Nguyen, the Centres

Accountant was nominated to partake in the training
workshop on Public Sector Asset Management held at Nha
Trang University, Vietnam. The workshop aimed to provide
managers and accountants of organisations with recent
changes related to Vietnamese Public Finance
Management Law and enhance their capacity to effectively
regulate public finance within the organisations.
11
 To fulfil the Centres principle missions as a
research, resource and training centre, it is
understood that infrastructure must be more
than adequate. In this regard, the building has
recently been renovated to cater for futures
activities. Some newly renovated features of
SEAMEO CELLLs premises are as follows:

Recently renovated conference room was

inaugurated on 22 September 2016.

Five fully-equipped classrooms are readily

available for training purposes.

Reception area has come into use .

The second and third floors were newly tiled.

12
 O
n 9 July 2016, SEAMEO CELLL hosted a
briefing session on the upcoming IELTS
training course entitled IELTS 3Ls to provide
listeners with information related to the
IELTS Exam in general and the course IELTS 3Ls in
particular. In the session, the
Centre welcomed
two principal
speakers, Mr.
Nguyen
Dang Quang
and Ms.
Nguyen
Phuong Linh
who achieved
the bandscore of 8.0
on the IELTS, to share their
personal experience on learning and conquering the
test. On 19 July 2016, the first class of IELTS 3Ls by
SEAMEO CELLL was officially launched. The course aims
at equipping English learners from Ho Chi Minh City with
useful knowledge and language skills for their future
IELTS exam.

The 2nd SEAMEO CELLL Governing Board Meeting, 3 - 5 October 2016

Expert Meeting of the Project Towards an ASEAN Lifelong Learning Agenda, 4-5 October 2016
Monitoring and Evaluation Training Workshop, 6 October 2016
Needs Analysis Meeting between Danish and Vietnamese Rectors, 1 November 2016
ASEM LLL Hub Conference 2016: Lifelong Learning and Resilience in Disaster Management: Asian
and European Perspectives, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 8-10 November 2016
First Senior Official Meeting for the 6th ASEM Education Ministers Meeting, Seoul, Korea,
9 - 10 November 2016
39th High Officials Meeting (HOM), Bangkok, Thailand, 15-17 November 2016
Policy Forum on Youth and Adult Learning and Education in SDG 4 in Asia, Bangkok, Thailand,
24 - 25 November 2016
Research Fellowship with Tsukuba University, Japan, November-December 2016
Implementation of the Project Towards an ASEAN Lifelong Learning Agenda
13
 Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Trang has
joined SEAMEO CELLL as an
Assistant Accountant. Ms. Trang
graduated from the HCMC Open
University this year 2016 with a
desire to succeed in the field of
accounting.

Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Tien has joined

SEAMEO CELLL as a Programme
Officer. Ms. Tien graduated with
distinction from the HCMC
University of Education this year
2016. She achieved 7.5 on the
IELTS and 955 on the TOEIC.

Ms Vu Trinh Thanh Ha, former

Accountant completed her
contract and left on 31 August
2016. Her dedication and
contribution to the Centre would
be greatly appreciated.
14
SEAMEO REGIONAL CENTRE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING
Newsletter Vol 03
July - September 2016

(+84 8) 38246767
(+84 8) 38243304
seameocelll@vnn.vn
www.seameocelll.org
www.facebook.com/seameocelll
33C Le Thanh Ton, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist. 1,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam