H E Dr Joao Cancio Freitas, Minister of Education, Timor Leste visited the SEAMEO Secretariat in Bangkok, Thailand on 5 March 2010 to discuss further collaboration on education through SEAMEO.

The Education Minister met with Dato' Dr Ahamad bin Sipon, Director of the SEAMEO Secretariat, Dr Gwang-Jo Kim, Director of UNESCO, and other key persons from both organizations.  Various areas of cooperation were discussed at the meeting such as early childhood care and development and teacher education.

Leaders of the Persatuan Mahasiswa Indonesia di Thailand (Indonesian Students Association in Thailand) or PERMITHA visited the SEAMEO Secretariat to learn about SEAMEO's vision, mission and activities on 24 February 2010.

Dato' Dr Ahamad bin Sipon, Director of SEAMEO Secretariat and Mr Noorhaizamdin Abdullah, Deputy Director for Programme and Development welcomed the 10 Indonesian student leaders and discussed with them various initiatives of SEAMEO in the region and beyond.

A class of Thai college students enrolled at the Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand conducted a small-scale study on the perception and attitude on SEAMEO in Thailand from December 2009 to February 2010.

The class, under the guidance of Associate Prof Dr Napawan Tantivejakul, was divided into three and each did the study focusing on one specific group of stakeholders, namely: policy makers, teachers and the mass media.

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization gave tribute to the 2009 recipients of the SEAMEO Jasper Research Award, SEAMEO-Australia Press Award, and the SEAMEO Service Awards on the occasion of the 45th SEAMEO Council Conference on 28 January 2010 in Cebu, the Philippines.

45th SEAMEO Council Conference pushes for early childhood care and ensures greater access to quality education for all

Leveraging on the spirit of cooperation and having in mind the remaining five years of the Education for All (EFA) Movement, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Council supported the promotion of early childhood care and other initiatives to guarantee opportunities for quality education in the region during its 45th Annual Conference that was hosted by the Philippines at the Shangri-La's Mactan Resort and Spa, Lapu-lapu City, Cebu, the Philippines on 26-29 January 2010.

The Republic of the Philippines, through its Department of Education, will host the two annual conferences of Southeast Asian education ministers – the 45th SEAMEO Council Conference (SEAMEC) and 5th ASEAN Meeting of Ministers of Education (ASED) on 26-29 January 2010 at the Shangri-la Hotel, Cebu, the Philippines.

Twenty-three students from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand who are doing a course on Public Relations; and 57 students from Padjadjaran University in Bandung Indonesia who are taking up International Relations visited the SEAMEO Secretariat in pursuit of learning about the programmes of the Organization and the model of cooperation among the SEAMEO Member Countries on 30 November and 2 December 2009, respectively.

Minister of Education of Thailand, and President of the SEAMEO Council, Mr Jurin Laksanawisit, called for greater cooperation in promoting Education for All and lifelong learning during the opening of the 32nd SEAMEO High Officials Meeting on 23 November 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The SEAMEO Secretariat supported and participated in the Worlddidac Asia 2009 and the 3rd Asia Education Leaders Forum which were held back-to-back from 28 to 30 October 2009 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand. The two events served as venue for both international and Thai participants in exchanging views, ideas, and lessons learned in education.