Bangkok, Thailand: SEA-PLM Secretariat, co-chaired by United Nations Children’s Fund East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (UNICEF EAPRO) and Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), officially launched the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2019 results during 1 and 2 December 2020.

Read more : https://www.seameo.org/Main_news/255

Click here to download the Press Release.

Click here to download the SEA-PLM 2019 Main Regional Report: Children’s learning in 6 Southeast Asian countries.

Click here to download the Summary of SEA-PLM 2019 Main Regional Report: Children's learning in 6 Southeast Asian countries.

• 11^th Regional Steering Committee – 17-18 September 2020, Online

For pre-launching SEA-PLM 2019 results and exchanging the SEA-PLM Programme short and long-term activities and opportunities. At distance consultation meeting may be organised earlier in the year for confirming SEA-PLM 2019 products and strategies on preparing the next round of assessment in 2023.

• A Bilateral Meeting with MOEs on SEA-PLM Preliminary Results – 15 October-15 November 2020, Online

For informing progress on data analysis and provide preliminary results to the Ministers of Education with the aims to receive guidance on policy implications and national supports on SEA-PLM activities at the national level.

• Launch of SEA-PLM 2019 Regional Report – 1 December 2020, Bangkok and online

For publicly releasing initial SEA-PLM 2019 regional products and results at the regional level with the objectives to promote better learning policies and practices.

Due to travel restrictions during the pandemic, SEA-PLM Secretariat changed the format of an annual national team regional workshop from a five-day in-person training to a three-day technical webinar and a one-day regional online meeting. The Technical Webinar on Proficiency Scales and Database was organised during 4-6 August 2020. The Regional Meeting on SEA-PLM Activities and Reporting was organised virtually on 7 August 2020.

As part of the efforts of SEA-PLM Secretariat to increase the capacity of national teams, the webinar and meeting were organised in collaboration with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to:

• Report the process by which the regional scaling parameters and described proficiency scales have been developed;
• Increase an understanding of SEA-PLM national teams on managing and using the datasets, including the use of weighting, and the calculation and meaning of standard errors when computing results tables; and
• Inform all SEA-PLM national teams on the regional and national preparations for reporting and disseminating regional results.

The webinar and meeting were well-attended by all six SEA-PLM national teams. After the meeting, SEA-PLM Secretariat will actively progress in preparing the regional report. SEA-PLM national teams will be regularly updated and consulted for reviewing and validating the structure and the contents of the regional report. 

Despite the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for implementing SEA-PLM activities, the SEA-PLM Secretariat continues to actively progress according to its agreed masterplan by adapting its implementation to the new normal approach.

In SEA-PLM planning at the regional level, we hereby reaffirm our commitment to implementing all scheduled activities, particularly the public release of SEA-PLM 2019 results at the official launch of the SEA-PLM regional report on 1 December 2020. To ensure concurrent progress at the national level towards this important goal, SEA-PLM Secretariat scheduled a conference call with each national team in July 2020. UNICEF country office representatives were invited to join the call to encourage supportive collaboration between the national team and its local partner.

The call was successfully organised to update all national teams on the main regional activities, protocols and embargo rules. Based on the responses to National Planning Guide 2020 survey submitted in March 2020, each national team updated the SEA-PLM Secretariat on a tentative national plan for reporting and disseminating national results at the national level after the completion of 1^st SEA-PLM regional report launch on 1 December 2020.

Each of the six participating countries achieved coding and data entry operations recently. National teams and operators applied standardised instructions and procedures for scoring students’ response into data sets template. The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) coordinated regional and national operations in collaboration with national teams and invited participants to ensure consistency within and across countries-languages versions. Experts supported intense national data entry workshops, verification and cleaning tasks for preparing initial survey’s data sets.

ACER’s experts are currently implementing a complex data process for setting sample weights, applying variance estimation and reporting methodologic outputs as another intermediate phase for preparing the final database. In the coming weeks up to mid-year, technical activities will focus on scaling cognitive and contextual responses for setting the new SEA-PLM regional scales, indicators and final database. During these important technical milestones, the national teams of SEA-PLM 2019 participating countries will continue to be closely consulted, informed and trained about the methodology. This particularly includes a regular annual National Team Regional workshop which is scheduled to be convened during July - August 2020.

SEA-PLM 2019 results reporting will start as soon as the final database is completed and documented, aiming to release the main regional report on 1 December 2020.

The SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat and experts acknowledge stakeholders for their continued technical and financial commitment and support on the SEA-PLM programme.

• National Team Regional Workshop – July - August, Bangkok

For discussing the data cleaning and psychometric operations, setting the final proficiency scales and training national teams to use the data sets.

• 11^thRegional Steering Committee – 25-27 August, Bangkok

For pre-launching SEA-PLM 2019 results and exchanging the SEA-PLM Programme short and long-term activities and opportunities. At distance consultation meeting may be organised earlier in the year for confirming SEA-PLM 2019 products and strategies on preparing the next round of assessment in 2023.

• Launch of SEA-PLM 2019 Regional Report – 1 December, Bangkok

For publicly releasing initial SEA-PLM 2019 regional products and results at the regional level with the objectives to promote better learning policies and practices.

From left to right: Mr Antoine Marivin, Dr Wahyudi, Ms Weerawan Theeraroungchaisri, Dr Ethel Pascua Valenzuela, Dr Salita Soongsawang, Mr Italo Dutra, Ms Erin Tanner, and Dr Orawan Sriboonruang

We are excited to introduce the 2020 SEA-PLM Secretariat team who will coordinate all SEA-PLM activities. The Secretariat is responsible for planning, programming and implementing the SEA-PLM work plan as approved by the Regional Steering Committee, and in collaboration with participating countries and key partners. 

Dr Salita Soongsawang joins the team as the new SEA-PLM Coordinator. She brings with her experience in managing human resource development programmes in Asia. She has recently obtained her doctoral degree in education, with a particular focus on ASEAN education cooperation, from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is based at SEAMEO Secretariat in Bangkok to support the implementation, coordinate activities and oversee communications concerning the SEA-PLM programme. 

Under a new partnership agreement for 2020, SEAMEO Secretariat and UNICEF teams will continue to closely collaborate to support the SEA-PLM Secretariat. Dr Ethel Pascua Valenzuela, Dr Wahyudi, Dr Orawan Sriboonruang and Ms Weerawan Theeraroungchaisri will remain key persons to lead the SEA-PLM programme on behalf of the SEAMEO Secretariat. For the UNICEF side, Mr Francisco Benavides, Ms Erin Tanner and Mr Antoine Marivin will continue to oversee the management of SEA-PLM programme. For the implementation of the final stage of SEA-PLM 2019 assessment, the Secretariat will carry on working closely with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to analyse and release the results.

SEA-PLM Secretariat looks forward to a collaborative and productive year ahead of working together with the Regional Steering Committee, Technical Advisory Group, national teams and key partners to achieve the completion of SEA-PLM 2019 data analysis and preparation for the launch of SEA-PLM regional report on 1 December 2020. 

The 42^nd SEAMEO High Officials Meeting (HOM) 2019 was successfully held in Berkeley Hotel Pratunam in Bangkok, Thailand from 26 – 28 November 2019. The meeting serves as a platform for SEAMEO High Officials of member countries and associate member countries to discuss key policies, initiatives and programmes from across the region, with a range proposals and financial and programme updates submitted for review and endorsement.

A new working paper on SEA-PLM was shared with member and affiliate countries and partners highlighting the significant progress achieved by SEA-PLM in 2019 and previous years, in particular the completion of data collection for SEA-PLM 2019 and the confirmation of a new regional governance structure. The paper also requested recognition and support for the 2020 release of results and reports and the identification of sustainable long-term strategies around the transition to the second assessment round.

Based on country requests for additional information a short presentation was made by UNICEF EAPRO Education Specialist Erin Tanner. Non-participating countries Singapore and Brunei Darussalam expressed their ongoing support for the programme as Honorary members of the Regional Steering Committee. All progress and recomendations were endorsed by High Officials and will move for review and final endorsement at the next SEAMEO Council Meeting (SEAMEC).

SEA-PLM is forged out of the SEAMEO political framework, ensuring a strong sense of program ownership and belonging. The SEAMEO HOM along with SEAMEC are the key regional mechanism where approval, commitment and support for the programme is gained.

Malaysia has completed school data collection for the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) despite many schools forced to close and reschedule testing due to a toxic haze over some states. Even with the challenges that the uncontrollable environmental situation presented, the team from the Ministry of Education charged with managing the regional learning assessment worked around the clock to see the assessment administered following correct protocol and within the planned timeline.

Malaysia is the sixth and final country to conduct data collection for the first assessment round of SEA-PLM, with 160 schools from sixteen states participating in the assessment. Unlike other countries Malaysia is administering the test in not one but three languages. Primary schooling in Malaysia uses a multilingual language approach with students attending three different types of schools depending on their mother tongue and family preference: National schools teach in Malay, Tamil schools in Indian and Chinese schools in Chinese. Data collection began on September 17th and finished on the 11th October.

However, with the country having experienced the worst haze in five years the schedule of testing was severely affected. Measured by the Air Pollution Index (API), schools must close and send their students home if levels rise above 200, deemed to be an unhealthy level. Sadly, many schools, particularly in the states of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang and Putrajaya and have seen just this. Some 1659 schools were closed in these states for the 19th and 20th of September. This included SEA-PLM sample schools.

Despite the difficult conditions the Technical Team from the Educational Planning and Research Division were highly organized with Plans A, B and C in place and ready to go. The coordinating central and district officers, along with school principals constantly checked government updates on school closures, making fast and efficient decisions around testing.

This was no easy feat. With a plethora of people involved in the coordination and implementation of the large-scale learning assessment, including government officers at the central, provincial and district level, school principals, test administrators, school coordinators, teachers and parents, communication needs to be swift and clear ensuring that all parties are informed on decisions.

Zahirah Zulkefli, Assistant Director of Selangor State Education Department, a state badly impacted by the haze, explains how she regularly checks her phone, often staying up past midnight for updates on the Air Pollution Index (API). Once it is announced that a participating school will be closed she begins the process of contacting the relevant people and identifying a time to re-schedule the test. This process is often repeated multiple times.

As the haze slowly cleared, the team were hopeful that all sample schools would complete testing within the planned timeline. And they were correct – all tests were administered and questionnaires collected by the 11th of October as originally planned. There will be little time for rest for the team, with data set to be coded almost immediately. In early November a data coding workshop will be held in Malaysia that provides training delivered by the Australian Council of Educational Research on SEA-PLM coding standards. With Malaysia coding their tests booklets from three different languages it is essential that the guidelines are applied consistently.

Without the dedication and hard work of all people involved in SEA-PLM Malaysia, the hazy conditions might have disrupted the final data collection, potentially impacting an already tight regional schedule. As it were the Malaysian Technical Team set the bar high in ensuring that smooth implementation of all assessment procedures, even when it was at times difficult to see ahead.