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= Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization - Regional Centre for Special Educational Needs (SEAMEO SEN) =

History and Background
The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) is a regional intergovernmental organization established in 1965 among governments of Southeast Asian countries to promote regional cooperation in education, science and culture in the region. SEAMEO member countries are Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Lao PDR, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Philippines, Republic of the Union Myanmar and Timor Leste.

As an organization that has continued to nurture human capacities and explored the peoples’ fullest potential, the SEAMEO maintains its work and aspirations for development with peoples of the region to make lives better in quality and equity in education, preventive health education, culture and tradition, information and communication technology, languages, poverty alleviation and agriculture and natural resources.

Located in Malaysia, SEAMEO Regional Centre for Special Educational Needs (SEAMEO SEN) is a regional centre that specializes in education to support the needs of children with different disabilities, gifted and talented children in South East Asia (SEA) region.

Background of Establishment
SEAMEO SEN's history can be traced back in March of 2008, when the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Malaysia expressed its willingness to host a Regional Centre in the country. Proposals were then made and submitted to the neighboring countries of Thailand and the Philippines in 2009 and 2010, respectively. By October of 2010, SEAMEO SEN had been given a temporary residence at the Malay Women Melaka Teachers' Training Institute in Melaka, Malaysia by the Malaysian MOE. Following the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between SEAMEO Secretariat and the Malaysian MOE and the appointment of Datuk Dr. Yasmin Hussain as its first centre director, SEAMEO SEN began its official operations on June of 2013.  See the Timeline of Events below:  {| class="wikitable" !Date !Event
 * +SEAMEO - SEN Timeline of Events Prior to Establishment
 * March 2008
 * March 2008

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia stated its willingness to host Regional Centre for Special Education at the 43rd SEAMEC Conference.
 * January 2009
 * January 2009

Bangkok, Thailand
Malaysia’s proposal to establish SEAMEO SEN was endorsed to be presented at the 44th SEAMEC conference.
 * April 2009
 * April 2009

Phuket, Thailand
The establishment of SEAMEO SEN in Malaysia was approved at the 44th SEAMEC Conference.
 * June 2009
 * June 2009

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Malaysian Cabinet Ministers approved the proposal to establish a regional center for Special Education Needs in Malaysia.
 * January 2010
 * January 2010

Cebu, Philippines
Memorandum of Agreement, Staff Rules and Regulations and the Enabling Instrument that will enable Malaysia to establish SEAMEO SEN were approved in the 45th SEAMEO Council Conference.
 * October 2010
 * October 2010

Melaka, Malaysia
The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia concurrently as the Malaysian Minister of Education officiated the temporary building for SEAMEO SEN at the Malay Women Melaka Teachers’ Training Institute.
 * June 2012
 * June 2012

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The MOA between SEAMEO Secretariat and Malaysian Ministry of Education was signed.
 * May 2013
 * May 2013

Melaka, Malaysia
Datuk Dr. Yasmin Hussain was officially appointed as the First Centre Director of SEAMEO SEN Malaysia.
 * June 2013
 * June 2013

Melaka, Malaysia
The temporary office is officially in operation and SEAMEO SEN begins its operation assisted by the Core Team members from the IPGK Perempuan Melayu Melaka
 * }

Vision
"To be the leading centre for quality teaching and learning in special educational needs."

Mission
"To promote and enhance the quality of special educational needs practices among seameo members countries"

Functions of SEAMEO SEN
In line with it's Vision and Mission, SEAMEO SEN implements and undertakes the following functions:


 * Enhance the capacity of teachers, education personnel, education officers and specialist in Special Education through short term courses while recognizing the diversities in culture, needs and expectations
 * Strengthen research, training and management activities through staff development, institutional partnership, technical assistance and mutual consultation
 * Organize seminars, conferences, workshops and technical meetings on best practices and current topics for better understandings in special education
 * Facilitate documentation and dissemination of information among institutions and users
 * Support research on Special Education associated with changing global environment
 * Promote the utilization of research results in the formulation of effective teaching and learning strategies in Special Education
 * Encourage networking, partnership, collaboration and resource sharing among Special Education institutions in Member Countries, Associate Countries, other countries, agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
 * Accelerate Special Education improvement and the development of marginalized sectors of society without prejudice, and
 * Offer scholarships to SEAMEO member countries for sabbatical program at the centre

== Children with Special Education Needs == SEN Children refers to individuals who have learning difficulties that require special learning needs and those with disabilities who need specialized learning environments compared to most children of about the same age. Thus, SEN could mean that a child has at least one of these characteristics


 * 1) Intellectual disabilities
 * 2) Communication Problems
 * 3) Emotional and Behavioral difficulties
 * 4) Hearing and Visual impairment
 * 5) Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

Priority Areas and Activities
As an organization, SEAMEO SEN prioritizes activities and programmes for visual, hearing, speech, and physical impairments, along with learning difficulties and multiple disabilities, and conducts various activities towards the betterment of the aforementioned priority areas, namely:

List of Directors
Since its establishment, SEAMEO SEN had the priviledge to be led by various professionals that specializes in special education and management. From 2013 till present, the Centre have had 3 Directors, as shown in the table below:

List of Deputy Directors
Together with the Directors are the Deputy Directors, similarly experts in the field of Education and Management. See the list below:

Division and Unit
SEAMEO SEN has four Divisions, (Management, Training and Consultation, Research and Innovation, & Strategic Communication), each serving and upholding various functions that are vital to the organization's vision and mission. See the table below for details:

= Courses, Programmes, and Workshops = SEAMEO SEN conducts and implements various courses, programmes and workshops for individuals and groups from its member countries. Currently, the Centre offers the following:

A. Regular Courses
These are courses that are tailored to address the professional needs of teachers and educators in SEAMEO member countries. SEAMEO SEN states that the courses are "designed to meet the challenges of 21st century living skills, global citizenship and education necessities and trends in Special Education field that fits the framework of Post 2015 Education scenarios and Post EFA Education Agenda in Southeast Asia." The Centre is prepared to conduct courses in the following areas of expertise:

See list of past courses on the table below:
 * Action Research
 * Inclusive Education
 * Transition Program from School to Career
 * Dietary Food Preparation and Food Technology for Special Education
 * Autism

D. Webinars
Webinars on relevant topics such as parent-teacher collaboration, disability studies, inclusive education, IEP development, and other pertinent issues have been implemented by the Centre. These webinars seek to impact various stakeholders, especially parents, teachers, administrators and country managers on the specifics and important matters pertaining and related to special education.

E. Conferences
The International Conference on Special Education (ICSE) is one of the main agenda that SEAMEO SEN is committed to organize biennially. The success of the 1st ICSE 2015 (Thailand), 2nd ICSE 2017 (Malaysia) and 3rd ICSE 2019 (Indonesia) has impacted significantly on the role of SEAMEO SEN as the regional centre for training and research for Special Education. The success of the first, second and third ICSE was the evidence of strong commitment between SEAMEO SEN with Ministry of Education Malaysia, Ministry of Education Thailand and Ministry of Education and Culture Indonesia as well as the ministries of education of SEAMEO Member Countries. This continuing support and demand have led the centre to pursue the 4th Virtual ICSE last 2021.

The main purpose of ICSE is to establish an opportunity for all educators, organizations and stakeholders to develop and enhance their capacities to provide an accommodative learning environment. This will foster the development of specialized resources from the coordination of specialized contributions by the participants. The conference will serve as a platform for exchange of best practices, networking and specialization which consist of the wide spectrum of skills and knowledge that are needed to educate and care for children with special needs.

The main focus of ICSE is to develop competencies among educators of children with disabilities which is in line with the focus of Global Education Agenda 2030, Sustainable Development Goals No. 4 (SDG4) and SEAMEO 7 Priority Areas especially on Inclusion. The conference is expected to not only develop the knowledge and skills of the attendees, it also offers an opportunity for understanding and developing the methods, the philosophical tenets that are the hall mark of professionalism in Special Education. The main outcome is the capacity enhancement of participants and those involved in Special Education to deliver optimal educational services to children with disabilities in all aspects. The conference culminates the body of research on special education in the area and within the individuals and groups of SEAMEO SEN's member states. There had been four (4) ICSE events, as listed below:


 * 1st International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2015), 28 - 31 July 2015, Bangkok, Thailand
 * 2nd International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2017), 31 July - 2nd August 2017, Sarawak, Malaysia
 * 3rd International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2019), 13 - 15 July 2019, Surabaya, Indonesia
 * 4th International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2021) 17 - 24 September 2021 (Pre-Conference Event) | 25-26 September 2021 (Live Session), Virtual.

== Publications and Research ==

Research
SEAMEO SEN conducts research on important issues and topics in line with its Vision and Mission. See the table below of the articles from SEAMEO SEN:

=== Conference Proceedings === Below are the conference proceedings for each of the International Conference on Special Education (ICSE) Events.


 * 1st International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2015), 28 - 31 July 2015, Bangkok, Thailand
 * 2nd International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2017), 31 July - 2nd August 2017, Sarawak, Malaysia
 * 3rd International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2019), 13 - 15 July 2019, Surabaya, Indonesia
 * 4th International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2021) 17 - 24 September 2021 (Pre-Conference Event) | 25-26 September 2021 (Live Session), Virtual.

=== Annual Reports, Newsletters and Bulletins === SEAMEO likewise publishes Annual Reports, Newsletters and Bulletins containing important information relevant to its member countries and allied organizations.

SEAMEO SEN Inclusive Open Education Resource (iOER) Repository
SEAMEO SEN actively pursues the dissemination of important and relevant information to its member countries, partner organizations and institutions through its iOER platform.

Partners
SEAMEO SEN has established working partnerships and collaborates with the following institutions and bodies:


 * 1) Higher Institution
 * 2) Schools
 * 3) Centres
 * 4) NGO

SEAMEO SEN continues to identify and pursue partnerships with pertinent stakeholders and key organizations and inviduals that seek similar advocacy goals.