APCEIU held Local Adjustment Training and Welcoming Ceremony for 26 teachers who entered Korea from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia and the Philippines.
The Training was arranged to help the invited teachers adapt in the early stages of their stay in Korea and improve their understanding of the 2023 Asia-Pacific Teacher Exchange for Global Education (APTE) programme, which took place at APCEIU for two days from 12 April followed by online training.
On 12 April, 18 teachers from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Mongolia entered Korea, opened their bank accounts and mobile phones, and participated in an ice-breaking session.
The Training on the following day consisted of sessions such as Introduction of APCEIU and APTE, Introduction to Teachers' Manual and Assignments, NETS Website Guide, Insurance Usage Guide, Guide to Mores in Korean Classroom, and Understanding Korean School and Class. Real-time live-streaming was provided for Filipino teachers attending online.
Welcoming Ceremony took place on 14 April, which about 60 people attended, including personnel from the Korean Ministry of Education(MOE), the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport(MoEYS); the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports(MoES); Lao National Commission for UNESCO; the Mongolian General Authority for Education(GAE); the Embassy of Lao PDR in Seoul; the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Seoul; Korean Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education; Korean host schools; and APCEIU. Starting with the invited teachers' pledge, Opening Remarks by MOE Korea, Welcoming Remarks by APCEIU, Congratulatory Remarks by the Lao Embassy, Encouraging Speech by MoEYS Cambodia, Cultural Performances by the invited teachers, and the meeting between the Korean mentor teachers and the invited teachers followed the welcoming ceremony.
"Despite the ongoing pandemic, Lao and Korean teachers have maintained a close partnership by sharing each other's school life and making constant efforts for educational cooperation between the two countries. Now after these persistent efforts, the two countries have finally entered a new phase of face-to-face education exchanges," said Songkane Luangmuninthone, Ambassador of Lao PDR, in commemoration of Laos' first year of participation in the in-person exchange programme.
Ren Kun, Deputy Director of MoEYS Cambodia, started his speech by mentioning Cambodian alumni from the last seven years "have acquired more precious skills, stronger confidence and a global competence necessary to drive positive change across their professional and social spheres." He said that the selected Cambodian participants are "here to learn and to grow and who, in turn, will grow Cambodia for the years to come."
Meanwhile, eight Filipino teachers who entered Korea on 18 April were assigned to Korean schools after a separate orientation. Through the 2023 APTE, teachers from seven partner countries will be assigned to Korean schools to conduct educational activities. This time, 26 teachers from 4 countries entered Korea to conduct educational activities in Korean schools for about three months in the first half of the year. The invited teachers will teach the subject of their specialty integrated with GCED and the classes of their countries' cultures and languages.
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