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Academic Deans prepare for Education 4.0

Academic Deans prepare for Education 4.0

Seventeen (17) academic heads from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Thailand attended the Conference for Academic Deans at the Bangkok Christian Guest House, Thailand on November 18 -21, 2019.  The seminar centered on, “Preparing ATESEA for Education 4.0: Integration with ASEAN Education Framework, Enhancement through Quality Assurance, and Engagement in Transnational Education.” It was designed so that participants may be ready to identify the issues of Education 4.0 to theological education, and make practical recommendations to address the challenges and prospects of Education 4.0 to theological seminaries.

Dr. Greg Pawilen was invited as the resource person and workshop facilitator. Dr. Pawilen is currently Associate Professor College of Human Ecology, University of the Philippines Los Banos and was once a member of the Technical panel for curriculum of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The following served as panelists on the topic, “On Being a Dean: Challenges and Opportunities for Academic Leaders”:

  1. Rev. Dr. Gloria Lita Mapangdol, President and Dean, St. Andrew’s Theological Seminary, Philippines
  2. Dr. Agustinus Setiawidi, Dean of Academic Affairs, Jakarta Theological Seminary, Indonesia
  3. Dr. Saw Augurlion, Dean, Myanmar Institute of Theology, Myanmar

The participants were challenged to review their curriculum and to align their programs with ATESEA and ASEAN standards.

The group unanimously agreed that a standard nomenclature based on the AQRF (ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework) can be set up by ATESEA. The following suggestions were also cited by the academic heads on how ATESEA can support the schools for the Education 4.0:

  1. To provide curriculum templates or samples comparable to ARFQ for different degree programs (undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate).
  2. To conduct a follow-up training on the same subject matter.
  3. To have a follow-up training on the same subject matter.
  4. To include sharing of best practices of schools in the program.
  5. To subsidize visits of Deans to other institutions for learning of best practices.
  6. To consider aligning the ATESEA standards of accreditation with the AQRF standards, and
  7. To organize the same training per country so that particular contextual concerns may be addressed.