On Monday, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare travelled to Singapore to attend the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession, which brings together Education Ministers from 20 different countries.
The Summit, jointly organised by the United States Department of Education, the OECD and Education International, will bring together Education Ministers and officials from across the OECD, as well as China, Singapore, South Africa and Ukraine, to share insights that strengthen the teacher workforce and improve student outcomes
As part of his visit this week, the Minister will hold bilateral meetings with the new Minister of Education for New Zealand, Erica Stanford, the Minister of Education for People’s Republic of China, Professor Huai Jinpeng and Minister for Education for Singapore, Mr Chan Chun Sing.
This year's Summit will focus on the future of learning, the role of technology and the implications for teachers in transforming education and training – critical
“As part of the trip, I will visit ITE College East and Centres of Teaching and Learning Excellence. I will also meet with Australian universities based in Singapore including James Cook University, Curtin University, Murdoch University, RMIT University and the University of Newcastle,” Clare said.
“I will also represent Australia at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Kranji War Cemetery, hosted this year by the High Commission of New Zealand.”
Clare will be joined at the Dawn Service by Year 9 and 10 Australian students who were recipients of this year’s Simpson Prize, which he recently announced in Canberra.
In 2023, Clare became the first Australian Education Minister to attend the event since it began in 2011 – a move that was widely welcomed across the education sector.
Professor Pasi Sahlberg, who was appointed to the Federal Government’s expert panel to oversee sweeping reforms to Australia’s education system, said the Summit is “one of the most important annual gatherings of education system leaders in the world.”
“This invitation-only summit is curated by the OECD and Education International, and it is unique in a sense that the condition to attend requires that the country delegation is led jointly by current minister of education and the head of national teacher association,” Professor Sahlberg told The Educator ahead of the Minister’s first visit in 2023.
“Australia is the only country that has declined to attend these summits since its inauguration in 2011.”
Professor Sahlberg said it is “essential” that world’s leading education systems deepen collaboration in fixing current education policy challenges, especially those related to the teaching profession.
“Attending the ISTP does not necessarily guarantee more successful education reforms in any country, but absence in these important conventions makes improving education even harder.”