The Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific was conceived at the Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in January 1950 and was launched on 1 July 1951 as a cooperative venture for the economic and social advancement of the people of South and Southeast Asia. It has grown from the founding group of seven Commonwealth nations – Australia, Britain, Canada, Ceylon, India, New Zealand and Pakistan – into an international organisation of 26 member countries, including developed and developing non-commonwealth countries in the Asia Pacific region. Current Colombo Plan member countries are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States of America and Vietnam. At its establishment, it was called the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia. However, in December 1977, its name was changed to “The Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific” to reflect the expanded geographical composition of its enhanced membership and the scope of its activities. The primary focus of all Colombo Plan activities is human resources development in the Asia-Pacific region. Today it has become a unique inter-governmental organization providing development assistance under the “Planning for Prosperity” motto and the concept of self-help where member countries provide assistance to one another in socio-economic development. Over the years, while adhering to the concept of human resource development and South-South Cooperation in addressing issues of economic and social development, the programme content of the Colombo Plan has been adjusted to respond to the needs of member countries in a fast changing world economic environment. While in the early years, the training programmes were more of a long-term nature, current programmes have been established to provide advance skills and experience sharing aimed at arriving at the best practices in different fields of economic and social activities for effective policy making and governance.

Funding :

A significant characteristic of the Colombo Plan is that all member countries have an equal status in Colombo Plan’s functions and activities, where the administrative costs of the Council and the Secretariat are borne equally by member countries. However, programme activities are funded by voluntary contributions by developed and developing member countries as development partners. In addition, non-member countries, other international and regional organisations and other donor agencies are also sourced for funding.

Current Programmes :

In 1995, Colombo Plan revitalized its programmes emphasizing short-term training courses in priority areas and promoting South-South cooperation. The current programmes of the Colombo Plan are in the areas of Public Administration and Environment including post-graduate long-term scholarships, Private Sector Development and Drug Demand Prevention in member countries. In this regard, Colombo Plan has established three programmes for capacity building, namely, Drug Advisory Programme, Programme for Public Administration and Programme for Private Sector Development.

MALAYSIAN TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME

The Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) was set up by the Government of Malaysia in 1980, to promote and facilitate technical cooperation amongst developing countries based on the concept of self-reliance and since then have been providing technical assistance to other developing countries. The programme consolidates various forms of technical cooperation in areas where Malaysia has the experience and expertise. It encourages the exchange of relevant experiences, pooling and sharing of resources and development of complementary capabilities. MTCP is based on the premise that the development of a country depends on the quality of its human resources, which can be achieved by training. Presently, the MTCP covers 133 developing countries.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN MINISTERS OF EDUCATION ORGANISATION, REGIONAL CENTRE FOR EDUCATION IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS (SEAMEO RECSAM)

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) is an inter-governmental organisation established in 1965 among the governments of Southeast Asian countries to promote cooperation in education, science and culture in the region. At present, SEAMEO consists of 11 countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippine, Singapore, Timor Leste, Thailand, and Vietnam. It has 7 associate member countries that include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and New Zealand; and one affiliate member, namely, the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). The SEAMEO Secretariat is based in Bangkok, Thailand. SEAMEO RECSAM is one of 15 regional centre established by SEAMEO. It is located on the island of Penang in Malaysia and specialises in Science and Mathematics Education. RECSAM’s goal is to enhance the quality of science and mathematics education in SEAMEO member countries. To achieve the stated goal, RECSAM plans and conducts programmes and activities for science and mathematics teachers and educators. These include training programmes (regular, customised and in-country courses), seminars/ conference/ workshops, research and development and publications. RECSAM also provides consultancy services to SEAMEO member countries in these two areas. The idea to establish a science and mathematics centre was proposed in 1966 by delegates of six SEAMEO countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). They convened at a workshop in Kuala Lumpur and decided that the training of teachers in science and mathematics in the region should be given high priority. Member countries supported the establishment of a regional centre devoted to this function and SEAMEO RECSAM was inaugurated in May 1967. A steering committee was formed to plan policy guidelines and strategies and the committee came up with a five-year development plan beginning July 1970-June 1975. The 1st Five-Year Plan was approved at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of SEAMEO in Jakarta in January 1969. The proposed programmes of training courses and activities that would be undertaken by SEAMEO RECSAM were included in the plan. In the interim phase, from August 1968 to June 1970, the Centre conducted some courses and workshops using the premises of the Malayan Teachers’ College in Penang. The first course to be conducted by RECSAM was in August 1968 with 20 key educators from the SEAMEO Member Countries who attended the course on Integrated Science and Nuffield Physics, Chemistry and Biology. In June 1969, the Centre conducted a month-long BSCS Philippine Adaptation Course in High School Biology for 20 key personnel from the member countries. This was followed by a few more courses and workshops, before the implementation of the 1st Five-Year Plan in July 1970. Forty years have passed since the first regular course started under the 1st Five-Year Plan in July 1970 and to date; the Centre has trained more than 5,000 key educators from the SEAMEO Member Countries. These key educators include supervisors, teachers’ educators, curriculum designers and heads of pilot schools, senior science and mathematics teachers, examination officers, research officers, educational administrators and project organisers.

RATIONALE OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMME

The general recognition is that in developing countries the general education including literacy, numeracy and scientific awareness is not keeping in line with average levels attained in countries that are industrialized and technologically developed. The aim therefore is to increase basic mathematics and scientific literacy and awareness among the Colombo Plan’s developing member countries.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this training programme as follow:
(i) To develop educators’ capacity to improve teaching and learning of science and mathematics;
(ii) To develop educators’ and central office supervisory staffs’ capacity to design and develop educators’ guides and lesson plans for improving teaching and learning;
(iii) To develop educators’ capacity to act as mentors and/ or leaders of other teachers on curriculum and subject matter issues; and
(iv) To develop educators’ capacity to work collaboratively with other educators and to reflect on the subject matter and student learning.

COURSE CONTENT

The outline of the course content is attached in Appendix 1 and 2 respectively.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS

Up to 26 participants from Colombo Plan member countries will participate in this training course. In order for the participants to gain the most benefit from the training, the participants will be divided into two groups, namely the science and mathematics groups. Therefore there will be 13 participants from each group. A gender balance will be maintained in each group.

CRITERIA OF PARTICIPANTS

Participants should:
i. be nominated by their Governments National Focal Point;
ii. have a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent;
iii. fluent in English;
iv. the master teachers/officers should currently be teaching mathematics or science at a secondary school or involved in curriculum planning or supervision of mathematics and science programmes; and
v. be master teachers/officers below 50 years of age

DURATION

19 September – 7 October 2011 (3 weeks)

VENUE

Penang, Malaysia IMPLEMENTING AGENCY Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO RECSAM)

FELLOWSHIP

The fellowship awards will cover:
1 Training costs
2 Accommodation
3 An allowance of US$ 20 per day
4 A return air ticket on economy class from the closest international airport to Penang, Malaysia

PHYSICAL HEALTH

Candidates should be certified to be medically fit to participate in this course. Participants are advised to make appropriate insurance coverage arrangements by themselves for on journey illness between Malaysia and respective countries and loss of luggage.

VISA REQUIREMENTS

Participants from countries that require visas to Malaysia should obtain the said visa from the Malaysian High Commissions/ Embassies in their respective countries or other countries nearby before their arrival to Malaysia. Participating governments are kindly requested to bear the cost of visa application for their participants. The Colombo Plan or the Colombo Plan Staff College will not bear the visa expenses.

ATTIRE

All participants are required to dress appropriately during class sessions and field trips.

MEMBER COUNTRY’S NOMINATION

Each developing member country is requested to nominate through the Colombo Plan National Focal Point up to two (2) candidates, one principal and one reserve, by completing the Colombo Plan Application Form and submission of a medical certificate. The duly accomplished nomination forms (one set each) should be forwarded not later than 20 July 2011 to the Colombo Plan Secretariat at the following addresses:

The Secretary-General Colombo Plan Secretariat No. 31, Wijerama Mawatha Colombo 7, Sri Lanka

Tel: 94 11 2684188 Fax: 94 11 2684386

The deadline for the nominations will be strictly observed.

CONTACT PERSON
Any queries can be forwarded to Ms Savini Sirikumara, Programme Officer, Programme for Public Administration at savinis@colombo-plan.org. Please refrain from sending Application Forms directly to the training institute.