Malaysia Willing To Offer Expertise, Share Experience On Stem Development With ASEAN

PETALING JAYA (Selangor, Malaysia), May 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is ready to offer its expertise and share experience on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Development Action Plan at the ASEAN level in implementing the ASEAN Work Plan on Education 2016-2020. Malaysia's Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid said so far Malaysia had forged cooperation with Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya and Nigeria under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Malaysia Fund-in-Trust (MFIT) programme. "Malaysia will focus on teachers capacity building in STEM education as one of the main initiatives in the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2013-2025," he told reporters after the 9th ASEAN Education Ministers' Meeting (ASED) here Thursday. The two-day 9th ASED, themed 'Nurturing ASEAN learning communities - Empowering life through education,' began Thursday with Malaysia being appointed chairman of ASEAN Education for two years, from this year. He said Malaysia also expressed its commitment to implement the six projects under the ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education 2010-2017. The six projects are student mobility, research, cooperation between universities and industries as well as an assurance of quality higher education. Earlier Mahdzir jointly chaired the ASED with ASEAN Plus Three Education Ministers from Japan, South Korea and China besides East Asia Summit (EAS) Ministers from United States, India, New Zealand, Russia and Australia. Meanwhile, in a joint statement, the Ministers recapped the objective of the first EAS Education Ministers Meeting (EMM) in 2012 which allowed for stocktaking of progress made in education cooperation based on the adopted EAS Education Plan of Action 2011-2015 at that time. "The Ministers reiterated that the purpose of the Plan of Action 2011-2015 was to explore possibilities of cooperation in education among the EAS participating countries aimed at further strengthening human resource development in the region," it said. The joint statement said the Ministers also agreed to stimulate greater cooperation under the EAS EMM framework particularly agreed upon priority areas lifted from the ASEAN Work Plan on Education 2016-2020. --BERNAMA