Closing Ceremony

As salaam a leykhum

§  Tan Sri Ambrin bin Buwang, Secretary General, Ministry of Education, Malaysia,

§  Dato Dr Azmi Zakaria, Director, Education Planning and Research Division of the Ministry of Education, staff of the Secretariat of the MOE,

§  honorable guests, seminar presenters and participants…

A. I have the pleasure of saying a few brief remarks in closing:

I think enough has been said during the seminar on the issues. The 8 questions I flashed up at the opening session have all been addressed and there has been a rich exchange of ideas and experiences on each of these issues. As Yidan mentioned this morning it would be a mission impossible to enumerate all the country cases we have referred to in the course of the seminar.

I just want to add something on a very personal –and perhaps lighter -note. During these few days I have been a bit depressed. My colleagues have seen me making frantic calls home. My son is leaving home. Not escaping from Mum and dad, but he is graduating from secondary school and going off to university at the other end of the country. He is full of hope and expectations for his future life. He is the first of the family to do so (to fly the nest) and so the rest of the family is understandably both sad to see him go and happy to see his dreams come true and his high hopes for his future life. We have gone through the ups and downs of his secondary school studies, the homework, tests and examination, the job and college applications of his school mates, their work experience and internship experiences, etc. He is at home is a changing world and looks at his dad as a kind of dinosaur. .And so, this seminar on secondary education has not only been a professional activity for me but also it has struck a very personal note. This week, I reflect even more intensely the need to prepare these young adults for life, work, and further academic study. And yet I realize how my child, growing up in a resource-rich environment and school , has so many of the competencies and attributes for coping with life in the 21st Century. One example of this is his ability to multi-task (listening to his IPOD, doing his homework on the computer on-line, while talking to his girlfriend and eating Pizza). In my day this was called a distraction and an inability to “concentrate”.

I hope that this seminar goes some way towards expanding opportunities and building competences for our young people in our countries (to use the title of the book we have been discussing).as secondary education has expanded the horizons of my son and prepared him for a rapidly changing world around him.

B. An event of this size and complexity owes so much to so many members of our organizing team:

1.  Firstly thanks must go to the participants themselves for making this event such a rich exchange of issues and experience. Also to the presenters who have all done such a good job of sharing their research and ideas with us. Without you we wouldn’t have a seminar… (round of applause for yourselves and the presenters, please)

2.  A very warm thanks to the splendid Secretariat of the Education Planning and Research Division of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. They are unequal partners for this event, having put in a huge amount of organization as well as funding for this event. In particular, I’d like to express my gratitude to:

§  The Director: Dato Dr. Azmi Zakaria

§  Dr Haili Dolhan, Deputy Director,

§  Mohammmed Subri Mat Isa, Principal Assistant Director

§  Sahara Ahmad, assistant Director, who coordinated this event…

§  Dr Hamidah Yusof, assistant director

§  Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim, Assistant Director

And the whole team of the Secretariat…Terima Kasih/ Shukran (Thank you in Malay)

We have a few gifts in token of our deep appreciation…. Gifts for distribution … flowers to Sahara…Gift to Tan Sri…

3.  I’d like also to express my thanks to our sponsors and partners for this event : Asian Development Bank, SEAMEO, and UNESCO.

4.  Next, I would like to recognize the support and guidance of our fellow colleagues in the World Bank: Chris Thomas, Sector Manager of East Asian and Pacific region, Michelle Riboud, sector Manager of South Asia region, and to Juan Moreno, of HDNED (book editor and principal writer?)

Special mention however must be made to my core team for this seminar: my much-valued colleagues,Yidan Wang and Bong Gun Chung of the Human Development Network and the World Bank Institute respectively. Both Yidan and Bong have been involved in the seminar’s conception as well as its delivery and birth. A huge baby! They both had their work cut out trying to keep pace with the Malaysian Secretariat on the other side of the globe. Omporn Regel, World Bank Education Task Team Leader for Malaysia, also worked as an active (hyperactive) member of this core team, supported by Achariya from the Bangkok office, and administrative support from Washington DC.

My sincere apologies if I have omitted anyone from this expression of thanks.

C. I.like to leave you with an Ancient Celtic Prayer (I have Welsh roots):

May the road rise beneath your feet

May the sun shine upon your head

May the wind be always at your back

May the rain fall softly on your field

May all the gods and spirits in all the land you travel through

Keep you safe and protect you

Until we meet again.

Minister of Mongolia to say a few words as a honoured participant in the Seminar.