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Regional Research Evaluation Conference

To provide a venue to discuss the preliminary research findings of thos who received funding from the World Bank's Development Grant Facility (DGF), the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) and SEAMEO INNOTECH conducted the Regional Research Evaluation Conference in SEAMEO INNOTECH last 26 and 27 May 2006.

The Asia-Pacific Education Policy Research Initiative (AP-EPRI)/KEDI was established to coordinate the annual US$310,000 research grant of the DGF. The grant is envisioned to support education research of developing and transition countries.

For the 2005 grant, nine research teams received US$30,000 each to fund a one-year research. SEAMEO INNOTECH's "Access to and Demand for Secondary Education in the Philippine: A Policy Research and Assessment Study" was one of the proposals that received funding.

Research teams came from Australia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, China, United States, Republic of the Philippines, and Hong Kong. A number of discussions, reactors and stering committee members composed of officials and consultants of KEDI were also present. Senior officers of SEAMEO INNOTECH facilitated the conference.

Dr. Jae Seok Kwak (Director, KEDI), Dr. Erlinda c. Pefianco (Director, SEAMEO INNOTECH), and Dr. Chong Jae Lee (former Director, KEDI) were present during the opening ceremonies of the conference.

Eight sessions were conducted in which the researchers presented their research, followed by comments from the respective reactors for each topic. A general Q&A was also held after every session.

The following are the research papers presented in the conference:

• Access To and Demand for Secondary Education in the Philippines: A Policy Review and Assessment Study, presented by Dr. Eligio Barsaga and with reaction from Dr. Lolita Andrada (Director IV of the Bureau of Secondary Education of the Philippines, Department of Education or DepEd-BSE);
• Resarch of the Compulsory Education of the Rural Migrant Children in Cities of China, presented by Dr. Ming Hang (Department of Education Development of the China National Institute for Educational Research) and with reaction from Dr. Catalino Rivera (President of the University of Pangasinan);
• The Role of Teacher Development Policy in Implementing the National Curriculum (NC) in Korean High School, presented by Dr. Hyosin Lee (Seocho High School, Korea) and with reaction from Dr. Estefania de Guzman (Vice President of the Philippine Normal University);
• An Ethnographic Study of the Impacts of the English-Medium Instruction on the School Experience of Students at Malaysian Secondary Schools, presented by Dr. Geok Kwa Kee and with reaction from Dr. Edilberta Bala (Senior Professor of the English Language Department of the Philippine Normal University);
• Rationalizing Cost of Private Higher Education in the Philippines: An Input to Policy Formulation, presented by Dr. Angelo Maduli (Graduate School of Colegio de San Juan Letran of the Philippines) and with reaction from Fr. Rod Salazar, SVD (President of the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines and the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines);
• Professional Formation: Exploring Students' Understanding fo Creativity, Sustainability, Ethics, and Cross-cultural Sensitivity, presented by Prof. Richard Braddock (Director of Macquarie University International and APRIM, Australia) and with rection from Dr. Evelyn Songco (Assistant to the Rector for Student Affairs of the University of Sto. Tomas, Philippines);
• Contributions of the Private Sector to the Development of Education in Vietnam, History and Future Expectations, (the author, Dr. Bang Ba Lam was not present in the conference ; it was thus presented by the moderator of the session) and with reaction from Dr. Ester Garcia (President of the University of the East and former Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education); and
• Creative Media and Artistic Education for Culture and Media Industries: A Comparative Policy Study of Korea, Hong Kong, China and Singapore presented by Dr. Angel Lin (Associate Professor of the Faculty of Education of the Chinese Unversity of Hong Kong) and with reaction from Commissioner Carmen Padilla (Chairperson, Committee on Culture, UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines).

The conference was an effective platform for an assessment of the preliminary findings of the funded researches. Ultimately, this provided the research teams a number of inputs on how to best improve their papers' scope and methodology based on the comments from their peers and from the experts on educational research and development in the region.

Dr. Don Adams, Professor Emeritus from the University of Pittsburgh, further noted that the grantees are clearly at the forefront of the current educational researches who are "working hard to understand the pieces of the most profound educational problems faced by the globalizing and rapidly changing Asian societies." He concluded that the international organizations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have put in their efforts in education, hence the important role of research on education to buttress educational plans and policies in school improvement.

To sustain similar efforts, a ceremonial MOA signing was held during the conference to signify the partnership between KEDI and SEAMEO INNOTECH in research and development initiatives.

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