DMMMSU, together with colleges and universities in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, joined the SEA-Teacher Student Exchange Summit at Avani Hotel Sukhumvit Bangkok, Thailand  on March 21-22, 2023.  This summit was sponsored by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO).

DMMMSU team was composed of Dr. Elsie M. Pacho, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Junifer Rey E. Tabafunda, DMMMSU-NLUC Chancellor; and Dr. Jesus Rafael B. Jarata, Director for Internationalization, Linkages and ETEEAP.

The summit activated the commitment of the participating institutions for the implementation of the 9th batch of the SEA-Teacher Student Exchange Project in the middle of 2023. It also provided a venue to share and learn the initiatives and innovative approaches of the pre-service student-teacher exchange implemented by institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

VP Pacho represented President Jaime I. Manuel, Jr. in signing the Letter of Agreement (LoA) of the 9th batch of the SEA-Teacher Project.

DMMMSU also signed individual Framework of Cooperation (FOC) with the Universitas Jambi, Universitas Halu Oleo, Universitas Nusa Cendana (Kupang), Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta in Indonesia; Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University in Thailand; and Dong Thap University, Cap Lanh in Vietnam. DMMMSU and the above-mentioned universities agreed to accept and send three students for one month to implement the student teaching experience across border between June to December 2023.

During the Summit’s presentation, Universitas Kristen Indonesia (UKI), DMMMSU’s institutional partner in Indonesia, featured and acknowledged the partnership and collaborative activities such as the international credit transfer and onsite class immersion conducted by UKI in DMMMSU in November 2022. UKI received highly competitive grants award from the Indonesian Ministry of Education. UKI is among the only 17 universities in Indonesia that received the grant last year— with “DMMMSU as its trusted and excellent partner in the Philippines”.

Besides the cooperations mentioned above, DMMMSU currently maintains collaborations with other ASEAN Universities for the implementation of other academic and cultural exchanges for faculty, staff, and students. Joint research collaborations, publications, and conferences are also part of the scope of the understanding.  (By Jesus Rafael B. Jarata)