Exposing students to regional issues and challenges
The ASEAN Symposium for Secondary School Students is a platform for secondary school students in Singapore to discuss key issues concerning ASEAN with policy makers, academics, and youth leaders in the region. It provides opportunities for participants to research and gain insights into the complexities and intricacies of pertinent issues and challenges affecting the region in the societal, economic, cultural, environmental and political domains beyond the secondary school curriculum; as well as to explore new perspectives on ASEAN regionalism.
Singapore, 15 July 2022 – The ASEAN Symposium for Secondary School Students 2022 is jointly organised by the ASEAN Studies Centre at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS) and Kranji Secondary School in Singapore. The Symposium’s First Session under the theme of “ASEAN: Realities and Challenges” was organised on 22 April 2022. The Second Session held on 15 July 2022 discussed “The Future of ASEAN”. This year’s Symposium was organised virtually with the participation of over 700 secondary students from 76 schools in Singapore, and representatives from South Hill School, the Philippines, and Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Secondary School, Thailand.
The Symposium’s Second Session, under the theme of “The Future of ASEAN”, discussed various issues that are concern to the region, ranging from regional peace, security and stability, geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific, the pandemic and regional recovery plans, to non-traditional security issues such as climate change, sustainable development, food security, amongst others. Students also discussed the region’s progress in attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and brought up pragmatic and innovative ideas for the future that they envision for ASEAN.
Referring to the good outreach this year’s ASEAN Symposium has achieved, Mr Goh Soon Hoe, Principal of Kranji Secondary School said, “It is heartening to see the efforts of teachers and students from a diverse range of 78 schools in Singapore and ASEAN leveraging technology to collaborate with and learn from each other. This symposium provides students with the opportunity to analyse regional and global trends and develop important 21st Century Competencies[1], skills and dispositions such as global awareness and cross-cultural skills to thrive in an uncertain future. This will spark greater appreciation amongst our youths on the dynamism and importance of ASEAN to Singapore’s continued vibrancy as a nation and foster stronger friendship with their peers from ASEAN.
In her keynote address for the symposium today, Ambassador Kok Li Peng, Permanent Representative of Singapore to ASEAN said, “ASEAN in the future is likely to look a lot like ASEAN today – a shield against geopolitical turbulence, a platform to engage our Partners in a constructive way, and a conduit for opportunities to help our citizens develop and grow.”
In her opening remarks, Ms Sharon Seah, Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS highlighted that the Symposium was an opportunity to reflect on ASEAN’s journey and its way forward as it celebrates its 55th anniversary in August. She highlighted the need for greater awareness and understanding of ASEAN to gain public support for participation in the ASEAN Community. She commented: “The ASEAN Symposium for Secondary Students is truly ASEAN Community Building in action. We hope that the students come away enriched by their discussions and more vested than ever in the future of ASEAN as youth leaders of this region”.
More information on the ASEAN Symposium 2022, visit the website.
Media contact
Ms Teo Hwee Leng,
Assistant Director, Corporate Communication Department,
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Email: teo_hwee_leng @ iseas.edu.sg
Mr Tan Fong Wei
Head of Department (Character and Citizenship Education)
Kranji Secondary School
Email: tan_fong_wei @ schools.gov.sg
Mr Tan Chee Wee, Desmond
Head of Department (Humanities)
Kranji Secondary School
Email: tan_chee_wee_desmond @ schools.gov.sg
About ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS) and ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC)
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (formerly Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security, and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies (RES), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS).
The ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) was established in 2008 to research on issues pertaining to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an institution and a process. Through research, publications, conferences, media engagement and outreach activities, ASC seeks to promote greater understanding of ASEAN and to contribute toward regional cooperation and integration. The Centre conducts studies and provides inputs to stakeholders on issues and matters that call for collective ASEAN actions and responses, especially those pertinent to the ASEAN Community building process. The ASC is the first institutional Recipient of the ASEAN Prize in 2020, a prestigious award to honour outstanding achievements of individuals or organisations who have made meaningful contributions to ASEAN.
About Kranji Secondary School:
Kranji Secondary School is a government school in Choa Chu Kang, established in 1995. With the motto, “Breakthrough”, the school aims to develop students who embrace a spirit of innovation so that they can be Leaders with a Heart to Serve and Thinkers with the Drive to Excel. Together with our partners and stakeholders, we aim to serve with heart, values and purpose to bring out the best in every child. The school has made headways in its internationalisation efforts through its use of technology and its partner schools across Asia, with a renewed focus on the interdependences within ASEAN region. The school is also recognised within the ASEAN region, as it achieved the first prize for the 2021 Education for Sustainable Development Award by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.
[1] More information can be found at https://www.moe.gov.sg/education-in-sg/21st-century-competencies