Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday, Feb. 8, met with Minister Chan Chun Sing of the Ministry of Education of Singapore, from whom she assumed her new position as council president of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO).

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte (left) and Minister Chan Chun Sing (right) of the Ministry of Education of Singapore during a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (OVP photo)

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Feb. 9, the official shared that her meeting with Sing touched on Singapore’s education portfolio and her plans for the Department of Education (DepEd), which she chairs in a concurrent capacity.

“Natalakay namin ang (We discussed the) education portfolio ng (of) Singapore at ang mga prayoridad natin sa (and our priorities at the)Department of Education (DepEd) — kabilang na ang pagbuo ng bagong (including the establishment of a new) infrastructure strand upang maging disaster resilient ang ating mga paaralan (so our schools can become disaster resilient),” she wrote.

The Vice President also shared official photos of her meeting with Singapore’s education minister.

Sing was the SEAMEO council president before Duterte took over during the opening ceremony of the SEAMEO Council Conference on Wednesday.

The Philippines is hosting the SEAMEO council conference in Manila from Wednesday, Feb. 8, until Friday, Feb. 10.

In her speech during the occasion, Duterte highlighted the need to “act now” to address the challenges that learners face globally.

READ: Duterte on educational inequities: ‘We need to act now’

She stressed that countries cannot afford to “waste more time”.

In a separate post, the Vice President also reported about her meeting with Minister Fadhlina Binti Sidek of the Ministry of Education of Malaysia on Wednesday.

“Ibinahagi natin na kasama sa (We shared that part of the) basic education curriculum ang (is the) disaster risk reduction and management mechanism upang maituro sa mga (to teach the) learners ang kahandaan laban sa kalamidad (preparedness against calamities),” Duterte wrote.

Sidek imparted to her that Malaysia is also focusing on climate change adaptation and preparedness because of their experiences in yearly flooding.

Vice President Sara Duterte’s (left) meeting with Minister Fadhlina Binti Sidek (right) of the Ministry of Education of Malaysia (Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook)

The Vice President replied that apart from disaster management measures, she also discussed with the Malaysian education minister DepEd’s National Peace Culture, which teaches discipline to the youth.

She explained that the National Peace Culture will teach discipline “upang sila ay lumaking responsable, maging katuwang ng ating gobyerno sa paghubog ng mas matatag na bansa, at upang mas mapaigting ang kanilang pagmamahal sa Pilipinas (so they will grow to be responsible partners of the government in shaping a strong country, and to strengthen their love for the Philippines)”.

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