RP chosen as home of Center for Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development in Asia Pacific

MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has approved the establishment in the Philippines of a Center for Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development for the Asia Pacific region.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, who is a member of the UNESCO executive board, said that the approval was given recently by the board at its 182nd executive board meeting in Paris, France which he attended.

Aside from Lapus, the Philippines’ delegates to the UNESCO conference were Ambassadors Rora Navarro-Tolentino and Preciosa Silverio-Soliven.

“The immediate impact of the new center is employment and infrastructure, access to training and resources to build institutions, and increase in the country’s profile and capacity in basic education research,” Lapus said.

The Philippines has actively lobbied with the UNESCO to be the home of the Center for Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development in the region, seeing the many benefits it will give the country.

Lapus, the incoming president of the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEA MEO), pointed out that the center is a most important addition to the three existing regional centers in the country, namely the SEAMEO-Educational Innovation and Technology (INNOTECH), Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (TROP MED).

Giving his final remarks in the UNESCO conference, Lapus said he had thanked his colleagues in the executive board and made an expression of solidarity with the international education community. The DepEd chief said that 15 island states of the Pacific region and a number of African countries has already expressed interest to be associated with the center.

Partnerships will be made with universities, non-governmental entities and the private sector to act as service providers in the center, Lapus said.

UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura fully supported the project which quickly progressed after a favorable feasibility study in March 2008 and support from all Southeast Asian countries.

The center will mainly re-orient existing education programs towards sustainable development including environmental protection.

“The center will serve as the focal point to emphasize the need to learn everyday for the rest of our lives. We need the tools and the skills to survive, to improve our lives and to stay competitive,” Lapus said.

He noted that the active participation of the Philippines through strategic interventions has placed the country back in the global map of innovative educational policies.