ASEAN–Russia Forum on Education Starts at MGIMO

On October 21st the ASEAN–Russia Forum on Education started at MGIMO. The Forum is being held within the framework of the 12th Russian International Studies Association (RISA) Convention with more than 60 ASEAN officials from the ministries and educational institutions taking part in the event.

The first plenary session was opened with a statement by MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov. Among the participants of the opening ceremony were Robert Matheus Michael Tene, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, Pavel Zenkovich, First Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, Hang Chuon Naron, Minister of Education, Youth and Sport of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Leonor Briones, Secretary of Department of Education of the Republic of the Philippines. The session was moderated by Viktor Sumsky, Director of MGIMO ASEAN Centre.

In his welcome speech Anatoly Torkunov, MGIMO Rector, noted that "in 2018 Russia and ASEAN agreed to elevate their Dialogue Relations to a Strategic Partnership. Ironically, global and regional contexts contribute to a new understanding between Russia and ASEAN that they need each other amid growing tensions in international relations". The Rector also stressed that Russia and South-East Asia face an important challenge to renew and strengthen relations, make them more substantive through joint practical actions.

Anatoly Torkunov also spoke about the Forum on Education which aims to inventory ideas and notions about the top areas for cooperation and coordinated efforts as well as about MGIMO ASEAN Centre, ASEAN–Russia University Fora, Youth Summits and ASEAN Kid’s Summit.

The first session of the Forum was devoted to the best practices in basic education and moderated by Roman Kotov, MGIMO Gorchakov Lyceum. Among the speakers were Nepomuceno Malaluan, Undersecretary of the Department of Education of the Republic of the Philippines, Dmitry Savin, Deputy Head of the Sirius Educational Centre, Ilan Asqolani, Senior Project Officer at ASEAN Foundation, Gerald Rybkin, Deputy Director of the All-Russian Children’s Centre «Ocean", Chea Vuth, Deputy Director of the Department of General Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Elena Zelenina, Deputy Director of the Boarding School for Gifted Children named after N. N. Dubinin, Chotima Nooprik, Educator at the Department of Basic Education of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Larisa Tokareva, Deputy Director of Stavropol School №45.

The moderator of the second session entitled "Best Practices in Student Mobility" was Andrey Baykov, Vice-Rector for Graduate and International Programs at MGIMO. The list of speakers included Dmitry Korotkov, Founder of the International Scientific Communication Consortium, Ludhini Volva, Programme Support Officer at ASEAN Foundation, Olga Yaroshenko, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at South Ural State University, Baiduri Widanarko, Chairperson of ASEAN University-Network–ASEAN Credit Transfer System, Alexander Tamitskiy, Director of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and International Communication at Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Somkiat Kamolpun, Educator at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation of the Kingdom of Thailand.

The afternoon RISA plenary session entitled "Diplomacy: Experience and Legacy"  was opened with a statement by Sergey Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The work of the ASEAN–Russia Forum on Education will continue on October 22d. The participants will discuss cooperation in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and in teaching STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). One of the sessions will be organised by the Association of Leading Universities and deal with the features of cooperation in education in the modern international context. The programme of the second day also includes Thailand–Russia roundtable on peculiarities of gifted children upbringing.

The Forum is held under the sponsorship of the Russian Ministry of Higher Education and Science and Ministry of Education.