Azlan Othman
Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman attended the ASEAN High Level Conference on Human Resources Development (Ministers Special Session) hosted by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam yesterday.
The conference was jointly opened by Vietnam’s Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung and Minister of Education and Training Professor Dr Phung Xuan Nha, and ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi.
The meeting saw the adoption of the Roadmap of the ASEAN Declaration on Human Resources Development for the Changing World of Work by ASEAN education and labour ministers and the launch of the ASEAN TVET Council, officiated by Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi.
The conference comprised four ministerial panel sessions, during which Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah shared insights on human resource development in the post-pandemic era.
He shared the initiatives taken by the Brunei’s Ministry of Education in responding to human resource development with a particular emphasis on developing 21st Century skills and life-long learning, such as implementing a new recruitment process and strengthening training programmes for teachers.
Also present at the virtual conference were Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, ASEAN education and labour ministers and ASEAN dialogue partners, as well as representatives of International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and ASEAN Business Advisory Council.
Prior to the ministerial session, a conference among senior officials of ASEAN was also held, on September 15.
Representing Brunei Darussalam at the event was Permanent Secretary (Core Education at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Dr Shamsiah Zuraini Kanchanawati binti Haji Tajuddin, joined by senior education, economic and labour officials from ASEAN member states, ASEAN dialogue partners, as well as representatives from the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), ILO, World Bank, UNESCO, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Economic Forum (WEF).
During the conference, ASEAN senior officials reviewed and adopted the Roadmap of the ASEAN Declaration on Human Resources Development for the Changing World of Work. The session also saw the sharing of areas of interest pertaining to human resources development.