International Symposium
(1) ADEA Triennale : Korea-Africa Day
As a part of the ADEA 2012 Triennale, the Korea-Africa Day (hereafter KAD) was held at the ADEA’s suggestion. EWB led the organization of the KAD as the Special Representative of ADEA in Korea. Later, the Ministry of Education joined in organizing the event to a large scale one with some 60 members of Korean delegation. Alongside EWB those institutes such as the Ministry of Science and Technology (MEST) in Korea, Korea Education Development Institute (KEDI), Korea Education & Research Information Service (KERIS), National Institute for Lifelong Education (NILE), Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), Korea National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU), and Education Broadcasting System (EBS) represented Korea in the KAD.
EWB’s Co-CEO, Dr. Ki-Seok KIM raised a question to the participants ‘Why Korea-Africa Day? (Why it is meaningful to share the education development experience of Korea with African countries?) to explain the background of Korea-Africa Day. Comparing Korea in the 1950s and the current situation in Africa, and introducing the notion of a ‘Rising Africa’, which has recently become a worldwide issue, he stressed the enormous potential for development in the African continent.
(2) 2012 EWB International Conference on Gender Equity in Education : Achievements and Challenges (2012)
As part of the EWB’s 5th anniversary, EWB in cooperation with Global Education Cooperation program, Seoul National University, hosted the 2nd Joint International Conference at Samsung Convention Center, Hoam Faculty House, on June 8, 2012. This year’s theme was “Gender Equity in Education ? Achievements and Challenges”.
Distinguished scholars and educators from Southeast Asia and Africa as well as Korean scholars attended the conference to share their research on gender equity in the education development sector and to discuss current issues and challenges in the field of gender in Education.
The program consisted of three sessions. The first session was begun by Oley DibbaWadda, Executive Secretary General of Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), who gave a presentation entitled “Gender Equity in Education ? Challenging issues and New Visions in Africa”. She was followed by Germaine Ouedraogo, Secretary General of Association for the Promotion of Non-formal Education (APENF), who presented “Gender and Education in Burkina Faso: Case of 5 Regions”.
The second session highlighted the current status and challenges on Gender Equity in Education in the Asian region. The session’s first speakers were Prof. Lam Quang Dong from Vietnam National University and Mr. Souksavanh Phonetheva from Ministry of Education, Lao P.D.R., who shared cases of gender education in Vietnam and Lao P.D.R.. After their presentations, Dr. Sookhee Kwak and Ms. Shahana Siddiqui introduced UN MDGs and Gender and Education in the context of Bangladesh, respectively. The session concluded with Ms. Jihyang Lee, Doctoral candidate of Global Education Cooperation Program at SNU’s, talk on Tertiary Education Expansion and Gender Inequality in Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.
Additionally, Korea Women’s Institute (KWI) and Asian Center for Women’s Studies (ACWS) at Ewha Woman’s University participated in the day’s events by sharing their expertise on Gender issues with EWB and Global Education Cooperation Program, helping to make the conference a success. The conference concluded on a high note with the establishment of a collaborative partnership among FAWE, KWI, and EWB in order to promote gender equity in Asia and Africa.
(3) The 12th International Conference of Education Research (2011)
The 12th International Conference of Education Research (hereafter ICER-12), organized by EWB was successfully held on October 26-28, 2011, under the theme of ‘International Education Cooperation for Sustainable Development in the context of Globalization: A Critical Appraisal'. The ICER-12 conference focused primarily on the critical dialogue between theories and practices of education in the field of sustainable development at the international as well as domestic levels. The conference served as a vehicle for new ideas on how international development and cooperation in education should work between donors and recipients.
In parallel with the conference, the Preparatory Workshop for the ADEA Triennale 2012: Korea-Africa Day and the International Education Development Forum (IEDF) were also held at Seoul National University. The pre-workshop was held in preparation for the Korea-Africa Day which will be held as a part of the ADEA Triennale on February 12th, in Burkina Faso. Four members of the ADEA 2012 Triennale executive committee (the Secretary General Byll-Cataria and three other experts) participated in the pre-workshop and provided consultation and feedback on the presentations. As the Special Representative of the ADEA in Korea and the organizer of KAD, EWB delivered the keynote speech on the Global Alliances for Poverty Alleviation in Burkina Faso (GAPA in BF) Project and the state of educational cooperation between Africa and Korea beyond 2012.
The IEDF is a forum on international educational development and cooperation, membership of which is drawn from 5 leading universities in Japan and Korea, including Waseda University, Kobe University, Nagoya University, Hiroshima University, and Seoul National University. As a partner institution of the Global Education Cooperation Department of Seoul National University, the EWB has also been an active participating member in the IEDF since 2010.
(4) International Symposium on Global Education Development and Cooperation(2010)
An international symposium was successfully held on the 28th of October, 2011, at Hoam Convention Center, Seoul National University (SNU), sponsored by Educators Without Borders (EWB), the Global Education Cooperation major in SNU, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the Education Research Institute in SNU. The symposium, entitled “International Symposium on Global Education Development and Cooperation, raised two issues, Aid Effectiveness and Education in Selected Countries, and Multicultural Education in Globalization. The 62 participants mainly consisted of global education cooperation experts, government officials, and graduate students, including nine presenters, one discussant, and four chair persons.
The first session, Aid Effectiveness and Education in Selected Countries. was chaired by Prof. Sung-Sang YOO (HUFS) and Mr. Edicio Gan DELA TORRE (Global Campaign for Education) who delivered a lecture regarding lifelong community based learning in the Philippines, followed by Prof. Ingemar GUSTAFSON (Stockholm University) who spoke about the Sweden Aid grant. Mr. Dong-Won AHN from KOICA then delivered a lecture, entitled Korea Global Cooperation measures in Transition: from being a receiver to a donor country. This session continued after lunch, and was chaired by Ms. Ji-Hyang LEE (APCEIU). Prof. Kazuo KURODA (Waseda Univ.) delivered a presentation on the Japan Aid grant, and Ms. Ji Yeon KIM (EWB) then gave a presentation regarding empowering women in poverty for self-reliance in Burkina Faso, followed by Mr. Hwanbo PARK (EWB), who spoke about the community learning center support project in Afghanistan. In terms of this project, Dr. Seung-Hwan LEE, Chief of APCEIU, served as a discussant.
The second session was entitled Multicultural Education in Globalization. Prof. Lynn ILON (SNU) chaired this section and Prof Yun-mi LEE (Hongik University), Prof Klas ROTH (Stockholm University) and honorary Prof. Michael OLNECK (University of Wisconsin Madison) each delivered a presentation. Finally the Co-CEO of EWB, Ki-Seok Korbil KIM, gave the closing address to conclude the symposium.
This symposium was valuable in enhancing the understanding of global education of all those who attended. Such symposiums can contribute significantly to our knowledge and expertise in the field of educational development and also help to establish wider human resource and information networks.
(5) International Symposium on Global Partnership for Education Development in Africa (2010)
An EWB sponsored International symposium was successfully held on the 26th of January, 2010, entitled Global Partnership for Education Development in Africa at the Professor’s Conference room at the Department of Education, SNU. The symposium is a part of the EWB GAPA Project (Global Alliance for Poverty Alleviation) in Burkina-Faso, and it is organized in order to gather professional advice, intelligence, develop rational and appropriate project models for educational development projects in Africa.
In order to attend this conference, Ms. Marie Odile BONKOUNGOU BALIMA, Minister of Education in Burkina-Faso, Mr. Ahlin BYLL-CATARIA, Secretary General of ADEA, Dr. Boly Barry KOUMBA from WGNFE (ADEA’s Working Group on Non Formal Education), and Mr. Costantine MALAMA, health expert from Zambia visited Korea. The first section, Korea-Africa Education Cooperation; Prospects and Predictions was introduced by Co-CEO Kyung-He Sung and the second section was delivered under the title of Global Private Organizations in Solidarity for Eradicating African Poverty which was chaired by Prof Lynn ILON, SNU. This symposium was a valuable opportunity for sharing the thoughts and ideas of participants regarding the current issues at the heart of African educational problems. African experts and Korea educational experts also met and held discussions on strengthening the wider human resources and information networks between Africa and Korea.