RECSAM News_Sept-Dec 2020

2 RECSAM News Vol. 51 - No. 3 51 st Governing Board Meeting (GBM) ON 29 & 30 September 2020, SEAMEO RECSAM successfully convened its 51 st Governing Board Meeting (GBM) via virtual means, due to COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions. The 51 st online GBM was live streamed from SEAMEO RECSAM in Penang and was attended by seven Board Members from the SEAMEO Member Countries. Governing Board Members and Ex-officio members in attendance were Mr. Shamsulbahri Muhammad (Brunei Darussalam) cum Chairman of the meeting, YBhg. Datin Sri Hajah Nor Zamani binti Abdol Hamid (Malaysia) cum Vice-Chairman; Dr. Zaw Win (Myanmar), Mr. Samuel R. Soliven (Philippines), Ms. Lee Lin Yee (Singapore), Dr. Phuriwat Khamaikawin (Thailand), Mr. Luis Nivio Soares (Timor Leste) and Dr. Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela, Director of SEAMEO Secretariat. Dr. Mariam Binti Othman, the Acting Centre Director of RECSAM thanked the Governing Board Members, SEAMEO Secretariat Director and observers for attending the meeting despite their busy schedules and expressed her hope to have a successful virtual meeting that could drive the Centre to greater heights. The Governing Board Chairman, Mr. Shamsulbahri Muhammad, welcomed all the honorary Board Members, the Director of SEAMEO Secretariat as Ex-officio member and observers from the Strategic Planning and International Relations Division, Ministry of Education Malaysia. He also expressed his sincere appreciation to the former Board members and Centre Director for their contributions and dedication and hoped to have a resourceful meeting. He further highlighted that the rapid spread of COVID-19 has had a disruptive effect on economies and education and pointed out the need to introduce new learning modes that can reach everyone and take challenges to adapt with the current market needs in the education line. Dr. Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela, Director of SEAMEO Secretariat acknowledged the commendable initiative of RECSAM to conduct the virtual Governing Board Meeting during this challenging pandemic period and expressed her gratitude for being able to join other Board members in attending the meeting. She highlighted that SEAMEO Secretariat is in the midst of completing the SEAMEO Strategic Plan 2021-2030 and thanked the Centre for its input during the development of SEAMEO Strategic Plan. She also recognised the efforts of RECSAM in carrying out the planned projects and stressed the importance to strive harder in this pandemic period. In this year’s virtual Governing Board Meeting, the Centre tabled a total of six (6) working papers and six (6) information papers. The Acting Centre Director presented the summary of the Board Members’ decisions on the four (4) working papers and six (6) information papers submitted by RECSAM via Ad Referendum. She reported that seven (7) Board Members’ have responded to the papers sent via Ad Referendum and two (2) working papers would be discussed in the meeting. The Governing Board Members took note of the report on the decisions made. Among the key working papers submitted for considerations were: (i) Matters Arising from the Resolutions of the 50 th Governing Board Meeting 2019, (ii) Strategic and Operational Plans, Programmes and Proposed Budgets for Three Fiscal Years 2021/2022, 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 and Personnel Strength Budget for Fiscal Year (F.Y.) Ending 30 th June 2022, (iii) Highlights of the Annual Report for F.Y. 2019/2020, and (iv) Appointment of External Auditor for F.Y. 2020/2021. Other information papers reported the updates of the (i) Report on Southeast Asia Basic Education Standards (SEA-BES) Phase 2, (ii) Trend Report on Implementation of Multiplier Effects Proposal For Regular Course Alumni (Fiscal Years 2009/2010 – 2019/2020 (Batch 1)), (iii) Report on the 8 th International Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (CoSMEd) 2019 and TIMSS International Symposium 2019, (iv) Report on SEAMEO Learning Science and Mathematics Together (LeSMaT) in a Borderless World, (v) Report on Upgrading of ICT and Multimedia Facilities in SEAMEO RECSAM, and (vi) Report on Selected Research Projects and Workshops. Over the two-days of discussions, SEAMEO RECSAM had the pleasure of meeting its Governing Board Members from across the Southeast Asian region and had the opportunity to update the Board Members on the accomplishments and status of implementation of Centres’ projects and programmes. The annual Governing Board Meeting is an important platform for Governing Board Members nominated by the 11 (eleven) SEAMEO Member Countries to discuss the policy, management and administration of SEAMEO RECSAM, as well as to review the Centre’s achievements in the last fiscal year and planned activities and programmes. The 52 nd SEAMEO RECSAM Governing Board Meeting next year will be held Phuket, Thailand from 28 - 30 September 2021. Governing Board Members & Delegates during the RECSAM 51 st GBM