From 3 to 5 August 2015, the Asia-Pacific Conference on Education and Training (ACET) took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hosted by UNESCO and the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, the conference stimulated policy debate and dialogue on a number of topics including ICT in TVET, partnerships and greening TVET. It followed up the recommendations of the Shanghai Consensus of the 3rd International Congress on TVET held in China in 2012.
One of the key outcomes of the conference was the adoption of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Quality Education and Skills Development for Sustainable Future. The Declaration presents a transformative vision of TVET in the region and highlights the potential of TVET to contribute towards achieving the SDGs. In this regard, Member States called upon the UNEVOC Network to support and function as an active platform for peer learning, knowledge production and dissemination, and experience and promising practise sharing. UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Education, Mr. Qian Tang, addressed Ministers and conference delegates from 26 Asia-Pacific countries stressing the need to make TVET a priority within their national agendas and transform TVET to maximise its potential to stimulate innovation and support vibrant societies. For more information please visit UNESCO.