On March 24, "Learning Innovations and Emerging Technologies Event: Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Enable Teacher Professional Development at Scale (TPD@Scale)" was held at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). The event was jointly organized by EdUHK, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), and other institutions. Mr. SIT Fung, Assistant Director & Chief of the Global Partnership and Programme Office, along with Programme Officers Mr. ZHANG Boyi, Mr. YANG Shangyi, and Ms. XU Fan, attended the seminar on behalf of UNESCO-ICHEI.

The Seminar "Learning Innovations and Emerging Technologies Event: Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Enable Teacher Professional Development at Scale (TPD@Scale)"

The seminar aimed to explore how emerging technologies—such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Open Educational Resources (OER)—can be leveraged to address the challenges regarding equity, quality, and efficiency that countries in the Global South face in the realm of Teacher Professional Development (TPD). The discussions focused primarily on the "Six Pillars" of TPD systems (Policies, ICT, Supporting Capacities, Partnerships, Learning Design, and Communication Channels), striving to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4)—Quality Education for All—through multi-stakeholder collaboration.

Mr. SIT Fung, Assistant Director & Chief of the Global Partnership and Programme Office, spoke during the Roundtable Policy Dialogue

During the Roundtable Policy Dialogue for Strengthening TPD Systems, Mr. SIT Fung delivered a speech on "Empowering Teacher Growth at Scale through the Digital Transformation of Higher Education," drawing upon the UNESCO-ICHEI's practical experiences in the Asia and Africa region. He emphasized that "Policy" serves as the fundamental cornerstone for achieving TPD at scale; policy involves not only governance and incentive mechanisms, but must also possess the capacity to integrate and coordinate with other pillars—such as digital infrastructure—to ensure the accessibility of digital resources.

Representatives of UNESCO-ICHEI met with Datuk Dr. Habibah Abdul Rahim, Director of the SEAMEO Secretariat

Mr. SIT Fung, Assistant Director & Chief of the Global Partnership and Programme Office, Programme Officers Mr. ZHANG Boyi, Mr. YANG Shangyi, and Ms. XU Fan, attended the seminar on behalf of UNESCO-ICHEI

During the seminar, UNESCO-ICHEI held discussions with Datuk Dr. Habibah Abdul Rahim, Director of the SEAMEO Secretariat, and Mr. Carlo Fernando, Learning Innovation and Information Specialist. They exchanged views on how to combine UNESCO-ICHEI's strengths—particularly in the digital transformation of higher education and the integration of AI—with SEAMEO's extensive influence across Southeast Asia. Building on the existing foundation, both parties expressed their commitment to further strengthen cooperation in the field of teacher empowerment, jointly promoting the digital transformation across Southeast Asia and the broader Global South.