1st Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1)
preparing the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting of Ministers for Education (ýME10) to be held in 2026
Date: 18 & 19 November 2025
Location: Bucharest, Romania
“Connecting Education. Fostering collaboration between Asia and Europe”
ý Senior Officials and Stakeholders meet at the 1st Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) in Bucharest, Romania on 18 & 19 November 2025 to prepare the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting of Ministers for Education (ýME10) that is going to take place in 2026.
The event will be held in English.
The single presentations from each item are linked below.
Day 1: 18 November
1. Welcome and introduction
- Welcome by the Romanian Authorities
- Welcome by the ý (AES)
3. Adoption of the Minutes from the last meeting
4. Keynotes on Regional and Interregional Cooperation in Higher Education
- “Quality Assurance to Foster Global Cooperation in Higher Education”
Daniela Cristina Ghițulică,
Vice-Chair of the European Higher Education Area (Romania) and Vice-President of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) - “The Global Dimension of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)”
Elisa Petrucci,
Co-chair of the European Higher Education Area’s Coordination Group on Global Policy Dialogue and Head of International Cooperation and Policy Development Department at CIMEA, Italy - “Fostering a Common Higher Education Area in Southeast Asia”
Christelle Mae Agustin,
Programme Officer at SEAMEO RIHED (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation-Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development) - “ASEAN-Malaysia 2025: Fostering a Common space in Southeast Asian Higher Education”
Dato’ Dr Haji Megat Sany Megat Ahmad Supian,
Deputy Secretary General (Policy), Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia
5. Presentation of the Concept for the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting of Ministers for Education (ýME10) in 2026 in the Philippines
- Commissioner Dr. Michelle Aguilar Ong,
Commission on Higher Education, The Philippines
6. Handover of the ý Lifelong Learning Hub’s Chairmanship
7. Parallel workshops
- Workshop A: Regional cooperation processes and their role in shaping and transforming higher education
- Workshop B: Lifelong Learning with a focus on Micro-credentials (European and Asian experiences)
- Workshop C: Mobility and internationalisation as instruments to build bridges between Asia and Europe
8. Updates from the ý partners
9. Closing of the first meeting day
Day 2: 19 November
10. Opening of the 2nd meeting day with welcoming words
11. Updates from the ý Expert Groups (EGs)
- EG1 on Sustainable Development Goals & Education
- EG2 on Recognition & Balanced Mobility
- EG3 on Lifelong Learning & TVET
- EG4 on Digitalisation & Artificial Intelligence
12. Updates from the ý Stakeholders
13. ý Education Process and way to the ýME10
- Update on the Stocktaking Report
- First ideas for the Chair’s Conclusions
- Next steps towards the ýME10
14. Any Other Business (AOB)
15. Closing Remarks
| Date | 18/11/2025 - 19/11/2025 |
| Time | All Day |