The newest programme of seven SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia, SEAMEO Outlook; The 21st-Century Education, was launched on February 6, 2021. The first online discussion in this series of activities carried out Merdeka Belajar (the Freedom of Learning) in the New Normal Era of COVID-19 as the theme. The theme was raised in accordance with the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) Programme Policy: Merdeka Belajar and Kampus Merdeka as an innovation of the national education system.
The event was conducted online using a Zoom meeting platform and attended by the seven the SEAMEO Centres’ directors. Besides, Prof. Dr Arif Satria, the Rector of the Bogor University of Agriculture, and Ir, Hendarman, M.Sc., PhD., the Acting Head of Cooperation and Public Relations Bureau, Kemendikbud, also attended the event. The SEAMEO Outlook: 21st-Century Education aimed to provide views on seven SEAMEO Centres’ policy direction in Indonesia.
In this event, SEAQIS was represented by Dr Indrawati, its director. In her presentation, she explained SEAQIS’ flagship programmes that support Merdeka Belajar. The programmes are STEM Learning, Computational Thinking, and Southeast Asia Climate Change Education Programme (SEACEP). She further elaborated that these programmes are under three main frameworks: Human Resource Development, Research and Development, and Publication and Dissemination.