Branding of Higher Education in the region: SEAMEO Perspective Dato’ Dr Ahamad bin Sipon Director, SEAMEO Secretariat Bangkok Nha Trang, Vietnam 10 August 2009

Background on SEAMEO Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Established in 1965

(continued) Key Role – to promote cooperation among the Southeast Asian nations through education, science and culture

(continued) SEAMEO Membership - 11 Member Countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam

(continued) –8 Associate Members: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Spain –Two Affiliate Members: International Council for Open and Distance Learning (ICDE) and University of Tsukuba, Japan.

SEAMEO Secretariat executive arm SEAMEO Council highest policy-making body determines strategic directions of the Organization (continued)

SEAMEO Council meets annually SEAMEO High Officials meets prior to Council Meeting to discuss - propose programmes - finances - legal aspects - administration - operation of organization and provide recommendations (continued)

SEAMEO operates through a network of 16 SEAMEO Regional Centres and a SEAMEO TROPMED Network in 8 Member Countries

SEAMEO Regional Centres

(continued) VIETNAM SEAMEO RETRAC specializes in identifying and addressing issues of educational management.

(continued) MYANMAR SEAMEO CHAT promotes cooperation in the study of history and tradition.

(continued) THAILAND SEAMEO RIHED plays a crucial role in the field of higher education

(continued) THAILAND SEAMEO SPAFA cultivates awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage; promotes and enriches archaeological and cultural activities; and furthers professional competence in the fields of archaeology and fine arts.

(continued) THAILAND SEAMEO TROPMED NETWORK promotes health and prevents and control tropical diseases and public health problems.

(continued) SEAMEO TROPMED four sub-regional Centres SEAMEO TROPMED Indonesia, specializes in Community Nutrition; SEAMEO TROPMED Malaysia, focuses on Microbiology, Parasitology and Entomology;

(continued) SEAMEO TROPMED Philippines, deals with Public Health, and SEAMEO TROPMED Thailand, specializes in Tropical Medicine.

(continued) MALAYSIA SEAMEO RECSAM deals with the development of science, mathematics and technology education.

(continued) SINGAPORE SEAMEO RELC provides training and expertise in upgrading the skills of language specialists and educators.

(continued) INDONESIA SEAMEO BIOTROP focuses on Tropical Biology SEAMEO SEAMOLEC specializes in Open Learning

(continued) BRUNEI DARUSSALAM SEAMEO VOCTECH provides training, research and services in Vocational and Technical Education

(continued) PHILIPPINES SEAMEO INNOTECH specializes in Educational Innovation and Technology SEAMEO SEARCA deals with Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture

(continued) SEAMEO is expanding and venturing into new areas of specialization by establishing 4 new Centres:

(continued) INDONESIA SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel in Science SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel in Mathematics

(continued) SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel in Language MALAYSIA SEAMEO Regional Centre on Special Education

( continued) creates learning opportunities for Ministers, High Officials and others to match shifting trends in human resource development strategies SEAMEO

( continued) provides research and training as well as both higher and further learning experiences to develop human capacity through the 16 Regional Centres SEAMEO

into the Branding of SEAMEO Insights into the Branding of SEAMEO

The concept of ‘branding’ Quoting Wikipedia, a brand is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the information and expectations associated with a product or service rendered by an organization.

Branding would bring a product or service into wider visibility and help keep them sustainable. (continued)

In the 21 st century, branding is a necessity in a company’s or organization’s development plans for reasons of national, regional and global competitiveness, to improve the quality of their products and services. (continued)

SEAMEO underlying principles on branding of the organization To sustain its growth in a fast-changing world;

(continued) To ‘sell’ its products and services, even beyond the region, thus securing success and reputation in the marketplace in the face of scarce resources, and

(continued) To maintain the uniqueness of the organization as the longest existing human resource development provider in Southeast Asia.

SEAMEO brand …needs to be well-defined and continuously relevant to the region and beyond the region.

Contributions to the branding of SEAMEO Individual & joint activities by Regional Centres Committed Centres’ professionals & experts in various fields of education, science & culture Service & product performances of Centres

Current services and products of SEAMEO Training, seminars, conferences, workshops, and symposia in human resource development;

(continued) Research and Development, for example on educational technologies and policies; Consultancy, for example on policy recommendations, project implementation, and management mechanisms;

(continued) Information Dissemination and Exchange, for example, learning materials, technical reports, research reports, recommended practices in HRD programmes, publications, modules, proceedings, newsletters and press releases;

(continued) Facilities such as guesthouses, hotels, learning resource centres, laboratories, and equipment; Publications in various forms, such as journals, research and technical reports, news, and

(continued) Learning materials, such as courseware, VDO educational materials, CD ROM and other non-book formats of educational materials.

Living and Sustaining SEAMEO Brand Needs commitment and continuous effort to remain as ‘Southeast Asia’s foremost human development provider in education, science and culture’

Strategizes through: –Enhancing institutional visibility –Strengthening organization of excellence –Enhancing resource generation (continued)

–Increasing regional and global collaboration and cooperation –Strengthening the management and organizational capability and skills improvement

Promotion exercises at Unit & SEAMEO levels: –refining the positioning of the centre and the centre’s products and services, improving customer relations program and tools for customer needs assessment, and improving relations with the media and alumni, and (continued)

–marketing ‘SEAMEO’ at the corporate level, beyond the region, with potential donors and international funding agencies, as well as providing guidelines or mechanism for the evaluation of the SEAMEO Centres’ Marketing Performance.

Identifying needs and expectations of SEAMEO: CustomersCompetitors Potential partners (continued) - To improve quality of services and products - To increase visibility - To remain relevant

Collaboration at all levels: –Consensus about SEAMEO branding to be achieved from the Council down to the Secretariat and the Centre directors. (continued)

–Awareness and trust among all SEAMEO staff and shareholders to be increased about the positioning of SEAMEO, thus promoting its products and services. (continued)

–Continuation of providing quality products and services to the region and beyond. –Marketing units of all SEAMEO Centres and the Secretariat to be trained and work professionally with consistent coordination and collaboration within the organization.

(continued) –Various forms of communication to be extended effectively and efficiently to promote cooperation, partnership, support and assistance with regional and international organizations, donors, and the public at large.

(continued) –Capacity building and human resource development as a whole to be upgraded to increase the quality of the products and services provided. Thus, quality assurance becomes the backbone of the activities of the entire organization.

Conclusion SEAMEO has come along way to serve the people of the Southeast Asian region. SEAMEO’s relative success can be accounted to: –awareness across the organization what SEAMEO stands for,

(continued) –internalization of key individuals and groups across the organization of what SEAMEO aims to achieve, and –commitment which is reflected through appropriate behaviour of its personnel reinforced over time to effect a lasting culture change.

(continued) Like SEAMEO, development of branding is pertinent in higher education as it reflects the relevancy of the education institutions to meet the needs, challenges and demands for intellectual and academic knowledge.

Thank You