In October 2014, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education through the SEAMEO Council issued seven priority areas for SEAMEO to work together to improve the quality of education in Southeast Asia.  “Revitalizing Teacher Education” is one of the priority areas in achieving quality education in the region.  To fulfill this mandate, the SEAMEO Secretariat has embarked on a project titled “Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange in Southeast Asia (SEA-Teacher Project).”

The objectives of the SEA-Teacher Project are:

1. To enable pre-service student teachers to develop their teaching skills and pedagogy;
2. To encourage pre-service student teachers to practice their English skills;
3. To allow the pre-service student teachers to gain a broader regional and world view; and
4. To expose future teachers to diverse teaching and learning situations and opportunities and the value of flexibility.

The project is designed mainly for the 3rd or 4th year of pre-service student teachers whose major are in Mathematics, Science, English, and Pre-school to have the opportunity to conduct their practicum within Southeast Asian countries.  The practicum period is for one month.  The students’ roles and responsibilities are assigned weekly during the one month (observation, assisting in teaching, creating a lesson plan, teaching and reflection).  The host universities will select the schools for the pre-service student teachers and provide mentors to supervise and monitor the students throughout the practicum period.  The project is based on a cost-sharing basis.

Since its inception in 2016, the SEA-Teacher Student Exchange Programme had been conducted for 8 batches with the participation of 2,318 pre-service student teachers from 136 teacher colleges and universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan.  Due to  the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the 9th batch of the SEA-Teacher Student Exchange has been postponed for implementation in 2020 until 2023.

To pursue the SEAMEO commitments in revitalising teacher education, the SEAMEO Secretariat will convene the 9th batch of the SEA-Teacher Student Exchange Project in the middle of 2023 and organise the SEA-Teacher Student Exchange Summit on 21-22 March 2023 at the Avani Hotel, Bangkok.

The purpose of the SEA-Teacher Student Exchange Summit are:

1. To share and learn the initiatives and innovative approaches of the pre-service student-teacher exchange, implemented by institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. To discuss and plan for the 9th batch of pre-service student exchange;
3. To seek commitments from participating institutions in the implementation of the 9th batch of the SEA-Teacher Project in the middle of 2023; and
4. To establish and strengthen partnerships among participating institutions.