SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian called on parliamentarians in the Asia Pacific region to prioritize education in their legislative agenda.

Gatchalian made the statement during the plenary session of the 31st Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum on regional cooperation in Asia Pacific Region through education and culture.

“To fully harness the compelling potential of education and culture as drivers of regional cooperation, I strongly encourage the parliamentarians present here today to pursue, in their home countries, legislation that prioritizes regional and cross-border collaboration and exchange in these areas,” Gatchalian said.

The senator also stressed the need to foster education diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region through policies that enhance the cross-border mobility of educational and cultural stakeholders.

“Let us consider holding discussions to formulate regional accords and multilateral agreements that will reform and streamline our cross-border regulations and processes to facilitate educational and cultural exchange, and at the same ensure that receiving and sending countries fulfill their respective obligations in ensuring genuine and mutually beneficial exchanges through these new mechanism,” he added.

Gatchalian also encouraged governments, academic communities, and professional organizations of member countries to collaborate with the goal in mind of enforcing higher standards of delivering educational services throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

“This would include implementing reforms to upgrade education systems, teacher training, institution accreditation, certification and licensing frameworks, and regulation of professions,” he said.

“And considering the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption in our education systems, let us strengthen cross-border cooperation to build partnerships for sharing best practices on how to implement effective learning recovery interventions and build resilient education systems,” the senator added.