July 22, 2019
On 22 July 2019, the ASEAN Safe Schools Initiative in consultation with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of the Union of Myanmar started the Day 1 of the national orientation workshop on the ASEAN Guidelines for Comprehensive School Safety Progress Reporting, in Nay Piy Taw, Myanmar. This workshop will last until tomorrow and aims to provide guidance for countries on a systematic gathering of accurate, reliable, timely and relevant information or data for the assessment of school safety progress.
The workshop was officially opened by Dr. Myo Thein Gyi, the Minister of Education of the Union of Myanmar while U Ko Lay Win, the Director-General of the Department of Basic Education delivered his welcoming remarks before the workshop participants. A total of 50 stakeholders from Myanmar participated in this workshop, including the representatives from the Ministry of Education (Science and Technology), the Republic of Union of Myanmar, the Department of Education at provincial levels in Myanmar, the Embassy of Switzerland in Myanmar, a blind and inclusive school, ASSI consortium partners (Plan International, Save the Children, World Vision, Mercy Malaysia), and local NGOs
Picture 1. Dr. Myo Thein Gyi, Minister of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Education
Picture 2. U Ko Lay Win, Director General of Department of Basic Education, Ministry of Education, Myanmar.
Reports from Myanmar will be used as the basis to foster the monitoring of the regional or ASEAN-level progress which will be reported to the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) and Senior Officials Meeting on Education (SOM-ED) as progress and achievements of each ASEAN Member States on school safety.
Picture 3. Participants of National Orientation Workshop for ASEAN Guidelines for CSS Progress Reporting in Myanmar.
Picture 4. Group Picture
The representative of ASSI PMT, Ms. Nadia Pulmano as the ASSI Technical Advisor, reiterated that the guidelines aim to provide a guidance for ASEAN countries to identify key achievements and progress towards the achievement of the four (4) main goals of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework, analyse gaps in data, capacities, policies, etc. and develop national strategies to implement school safety and/or to address the gaps and challenges.
Mr. Avianto Amri, as the representative of the consultants who were commissioned to develop the Guidelines presented the reporting mechanism that should be guided by the following principles: compliance with relevant ASEAN sectoral plans or strategies’ monitoring and evaluation; ensuring accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of information; implemented as an integral part of school safety programme implementation, encourage participation, transparency, and inclusivity in the whole process of the monitoring and reporting; respect and protect the rights, welfare, and confidentiality of all those involved in the programme.
This workshop is part of the series of its national orientation workshop previously held on 17 June 2019 and regional orientation workshop on 18-20 June 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia. More than 35 participants attended the workshops representing the ASEAN Secretariat and 9 ASEAN Member States and regional and national practitioners in school safety. Two other national orientation workshops on the Guidelines will also be held in Bangkok, Thailand (25-26 July 2019) and in Pnom Penh, Cambodia (29-30 July 2019).