Above image: L-R Helen Salmon, Country Director British Council Australia; Summer Xia, Country Director Indonesia and ASEAN-UK SAGE SRO; Aye Aye Tun, Programme Manager, English School and Education, Myanmar; and Craig Farmer, Team Leader ASEAN-UK SAGE.
British Council joined education and development leaders at the inaugural Development and Education (DevEd) Conference in Melbourne in November, the first conference dedicated to education and development research across the Asia-Pacific.
Convened by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in partnership with the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the conference brought together policymakers, researchers and practitioners to tackle these critical challenges. Australian Minister for International Development, the Hon Dr Anne Aly MP, opened the conference with a keynote address.
Summer Xia (Country Director Indonesia and ASEAN-UK SAGE SRO) spoke to the ASEAN SAGE program and Aye Aye Tun (Programme Manager, English School and Education, Myanmar) presented on the British Council English and Digital for Girls' Education (EDGE) programme, supporting girls' education in one of the world's major conflict zones.
The conference addressed a stark reality: a new UNICEF analysis indicates a 24% drop in international aid for education by 2026. In East Asia and the Pacific, 32 million children are out of school, a region where climate impacts caused learning disruptions for 50 million children in 2024 alone (UNICEF). With the UK and Australia as key partners in education for development in the region, forums like DevEd are essential to jointly tackle the issues impacting equitable access to education. Investing in girls' education and foundational learning has a ripple effect across society – from access to opportunity and health outcomes, to economic growth and stability across the region.
ACER is a key delivery partner on the ASEAN-UK Supporting the Advancement of Girls' Education (SAGE) programme, the UK's flagship education programme in Southeast Asia, co-led by British Council and SEAMEO Secretariat. The programme has just selected 11 women from eight ASEAN countries for its 2025 Women in STEM Scholarships.
Learn more about DevEd here.