Representatives from ASEAN member states, the UK government and the British Council at the opening ceremony of the inaugural ASEAN-UK Higher Education Week held in Manila, the Philippines on Tuesday. — VNS Photos Bảo Hoa

Bảo Hoa

MANILA — A two-day conference aiming to strengthen higher education cooperation between the UK and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convened in the Philippines' capital city Manila on Tuesday, with a focus on several areas including transnational education and digital transformation.

Two university representatives from Việt Nam will take part in panel discussions with ASEAN and British colleagues.

Organised by the British Council in partnership with the Philippines’ Commission on Higher Education (CHED) from November 3 to 5, the inaugural ASEAN-UK Higher Education Week brings together nearly 160 policymakers, university leaders, researchers, education practitioners and development partners from across ASEAN and the UK.

It aims to provide a platform for discussions and partnerships across several areas, including higher education internationalisation, transnational education, skills development and graduate employability, as well as quality assurance, digital transformation and AI.

Head of academic affairs at Greenwich Vietnam Dr Đào Thị Thanh Lam will discuss the challenges and opportunities for UK-ASEAN transnational education partnerships, while Associate Professor Lại Quốc Đạt, head of external relations at the Hồ Chí Minh City University of Technology, will contribute to a conversation about how UK-ASEAN partnered universities should prepare for the future in 2035.

The Philippines, the incumbent ASEAN chair, will launch a Transnational Higher Education Strategy at the event.

In her welcoming remarks, CHED Chairwoman Dr Shirley Agrupis said: "We are pleased to host the inaugural ASEAN-UK Higher Education Week, which we envision as the beginning of a continuing platform for engagement between ASEAN and the United Kingdom."

Dr Shirley Agrupis, chairperson of the Philippines' Commission on Higher Education, addresses the event.

She added: "Through this platform, we hope to create opportunities for policy exchange, institutional collaboration and practical cooperation co-created with our Asian partners and responsive to the region's priorities.

"We further hope that succeeding ASEAN chairs will carry this initiative forward, calling out to our Singapore friends, ensuring continuity and sustained engagement in the years to come."

UK Ambassador to ASEAN Helen Fazey stressed the UK's commitment to supporting ASEAN's education development goals, citing growing collaboration between the Philippines and UK universities including Reading, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Liverpool Hope.

UK Ambassador to ASEAN Helen Fazey gives an address at the event.

"We stand ready to support ASEAN's ambitions where our experience in the UK can be useful," she said.

"This region is home to some of the world's strongest performing education systems," she added. "Countries such as Singapore and Việt Nam consistently perform at a high level internationally."

The ambassador proposed three principles for lasting UK-ASEAN education partnerships that are mutually beneficial and inclusive, with widely-shared opportunities among institutions, educators and learners.

She invited ASEAN ministers and delegations to the World Education Forum, which will be held in London next May under the theme 'Redefine: Education for a Changing World'.

Sir Steve Smith, UK Government International Education Champion, addressed the conference virtually from Singapore, stressing the importance of respect for diversity within ASEAN as collaboration progresses and noting that each member state has its own higher education system, development priorities and institutional strengths.

"The most useful partnerships will respond to those differences and be designed jointly by the people who understand them," he said.

He added that even though the UK has considerable experience in international higher education, it still has much to learn from ASEAN partners about expanding demand, connecting universities with regional development and responding to rapid economic change.

"We should approach this work as equals with a shared responsibility for its success," he said. "Transnational education offers a particularly valuable way to put that approach into practice." — VNS