Page 49 - EU_ASEN Relations: Perspectives From Malaysia
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on Higher Education in 2015 also supports the cross-border mobility theme by
enhancing and intensifying regional cooperative efforts in academic, research
and community development. All ASEAN member states are encouraged to
share good practices of higher education in the region, and to explore the intra
ASEAN mobility phenomenon that involves students and scholars, as well as
a common Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) standard
of competencies for a harmonised TVET education in the region. These
significant developments have created many opportunities for higher education
in ASEAN to collaborate with their EU partners. Both focus areas have been
incorporated in the ASEAN Work Plan for Education (2016–2020).
Since the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015,
higher education has become an enabler in its driving forces that include free
flow of people (educators, students, scholars, etc.), and free flow of
information and knowledge within the region. These resonate with the
aspirations of the ‘Europe of knowledge’ or the ‘knowledge economy’ (Pol,
2015, p. 14) within the Europe 2020 Strategy in the EU context. In the ASEAN
Post-2015 Vision on Education (2014), the post AEC vision and key elements
of education emphasise the ‘widening of educational cooperation’ for quality
inclusive education and lifelong learning which leads to the outline of the
ASEAN Community Vision 2025: Forging Ahead Together (ACV 2025) in
2016.
Subsequently, all three pillars of the ASEAN Community including the ASCC
Blueprint (now referred to as the ASCC Blueprint 2025) were upgraded to
incorporate the vision of a ‘Dynamic ASEAN’ to promote “an innovative
ASEAN approach to higher education” (ASEAN Secretariat, 2015, p. 59)
through people-to-people connectivity and mobility; free flow of ideas,
knowledge, expertise and skills; and strong regional and global cooperation in
higher education. Hence, the ASEAN 5-Year Workplan on Education (2016–
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