Internationalization of Higher Education in Southeast Asia

Abstract

In 1997, during the second ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations) informal summit held in Kuala Lumpur, ASEAN Vision 2020 was adopted laying emphasis on integration of education and human capital development which was echoed in Hanoi Plan of Action (December 1997) and later on in Vientiane Action Programme (2004). During the first meeting of ASEAN Ministers of Education held at Singapore in 2006 the Cha-am Hua Declaration highlighted role of education in achieving enduring solidarity and unity among the nations and people of ASEAN. Recently an ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 was launched in 2016 recommending an innovative ASEAN approach to higher education with the purpose to promote greater people-to-people interaction and mobility within and outside ASEAN. This chapter discusses policies and practices for internationalization of higher education in South East Asia and how it is strengthening regional and global cooperation.