PH, SoKor education chiefs hold bilateral meet in Seoul

SEOUL – Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Z. Duterte, and South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Lee Ju-Ho, held a bilateral meeting here on Thursday to explore how Manila and Seoul can cooperate in education, especially on the use of digital technology in learning.

Duterte and Lee had their discussions on the sidelines of the 2023 Global Education and Innovation Summit (GEIS) at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in Gangnam District in Seoul, where the former also delivered a keynote speech.

During the meeting, Duterte expressed her interest in exploring cooperation with the Korean government in strengthening the Philippines’ basic education.

“We have big dreams for our country and one of them is leveling up our basic education,” she said.

She also emphasized the importance of innovation in education, particularly pushing for digital education.

“In fact, we started institutionalizing the blended learning program from our experience during the pandemic which leverages on the technology that is available right now,” she said. “And the summit is timely for the Philippines to hear other countries like Korea in their innovation in education.”

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency, Korea’s Ministry of Education Global Education Policy Division director Lee Hyejin said the discussion between Duterte and Lee focused on digital education, inviting more Filipinos to study in South Korea, and learning of the Korean language.

Global Education, Innovation Summit

The Korean government has chosen Duterte to be one of the keynote speakers at the first GEIS, which aims to share Korea’s best practices in education.

Lee said the Ministry of Education invited Duterte to be one of the guests in the