On 29-31 March 2017, Viet Nam hosted the ASEM Conference on Innovative Education and Human Resource Building for Sustainable Development in Hue, Viet Nam. Finland, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea co-sponsored the event.
The rapid pace of disruption, characteristic of the 4th Industrial Revolution, is expected to alter the employment market by making many jobs redundant through the process of automation; new jobs will require new skill-sets that today many educational institutions are barely prepared to equip students with. Building on the conclusions of the 10th ASEM Summit (ASEM10) in 2014 in Milan, where ASEM Leaders emphasised the role of education in promoting sustainable and inclusive development, this conference sought to provide a platform for ASEM Partners to share good practices that promote innovative education for human resource development.
In his keynote speech, HE Le Luong MINH, Secretary-General of the Association for South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) said, “The automation of the workplace requires a new paradigm of teaching and learning. With advancements in technology, we need to rethink the current curriculum and practice to ensure that education and skills training remain relevant and responsive to the changing times”.
Ms Leonie NAGARAJAN, Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation’s (ASEF) Education Department, presented ASEF’s survey of youth employment, employability skills and entrepreneurship. The conference brought together about 200 participants, including government officials, senior policymakers, researchers, and educators, who collectively:
- Shared good practices in quality and innovative education
- Helped to nurture collaboration between ASEM Partners to achieve Goal 4, “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning”, of the United Nation’s (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
- Discussed policies needed to build the next generation of workforce
The goal of this ASEM Initiative aligns with ASEF’s focus on lifelong learning under ASEF’s Education Policy Conference Series 2017.