Here are four ways to get the latest news about education in South East Asia.
- Ask SEAMEO, the regional Ministers of Education Organisation which the UK joined last week, as an Associate Member. We are deeply impressed by what SEAMEO has achieved over the last two years, under the active chairmanship of Brunei’s Minister of Education; and excited about what this network can do in the years ahead. I was lucky enough to be at the Council meeting in Hanoi, supporting the British Minister who launched our associate membership. In my home movie below, hear what David Jones, Secretary of State for Wales, said in our debut speech to SEAMEO; experience the “SEAMEO Song” (courtesy of a local primary school), and enjoy the very British music which our hosts supplied during the “family photograph”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3S0Iu6m5uE
- Read the blurb on the back of the professional film we distributed at the SEAMEO Council: “English as an ASEAN Language: The Brunei Story”. Made with the CfBT Education Trust, who have played a key role in the story for decades, it salutes Brunei’s success with English as a medium of learning, and draws some interesting conclusions about the best way to teach English in this region.
- Watch the film. It’s packed with examples of how to have fun learning English; and how to do so in a way which strengthens a nation’s distinct personality.
- Come to the Premiere in Brunei. With the Ministry of Education and CfBT, the British High Commission is planning a “Gala Night” for the first local screening. The principal guests will be those who produced and starred in the film, but we hope it will bring together the whole English teaching community here in Brunei, from MOE, CfBT and beyond. If you would like to be there too, please enter our Facebook competition. We will award tickets for the most thought-provoking answers to the following question: “What’s the best way to learn English?”