More than 250 educators participated in the 2020 ACT Southeast Asia Summit and Professional Development Conference titled “Connecting the Dots: Developing Academic & Soft Skills for Higher Education and Beyond.” The summit was held February 15-16 in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city.
“The attendees included key decision-makers such as teachers, principals, academic directors, curriculum planners and university faculty from some of our 22 Indonesian GAC universities,” said Simmy Ziv-el, Vice President, International. “They came from both our existing ACT GAC schools in Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, as well as potential new customers in these and other countries.”
Summit and PDC Highlights
The summit and professional development conference were made possible by the market development investment made in Indonesia over the past three years. Despite anxieties related to the COVID-19 virus, the participants – most from Indonesia and 15 from other countries – enthusiastically participated in two days of presentations and a university fair.
Among the presenters were:
- Anita Lie, PhD, a professor at Widya Mandala Catholic University, who spoke on “Indonesian Higher Education 4.0: Challenges and Opportunities”
- Mr Munif Chatib, an author of many books on education, who explored “Multiple Intelligences and 21st Century Skills”
- Ms Angie Mizeur, Acting USA Consul General in Surabaya, who discussed education in the United States
- Simmy Ziv-el, who introduced ACT’s Holistic Framework, described ACT’s transition to a more broadly balanced organization based on Learning, Measurement, and Navigation, and his vision for a newly branded ACT School” that uses an integrated suite of ACT offerings that include Aspire, Tessera, the GAC, PreACT – and then the ACT test as a capstone.
- Marten Roorda, ACT CEO, who sent a customized video message that welcomed the participants and lauded their commitment to education.
In addition to the symposium sessions in the morning, the afternoon of Day 1 featured a professional development conference focusing on leading-edge teaching methodologies, a key component of the GAC curriculum. Three schools and six instructors representing ACT GAC programs in Indonesia (Elyon Christian School; Keith Tang Chu Kean and Reynaldo Masanguid), Thailand (Sarasas Ektra School; George Kipen and Imee Payumo), and Myanmar (Royal Academic Institute; Su Myat Htet and Eint Pyae Pyae Khin) led the widely acclaimed workshops.
Raising ACT’s Profile
Day 1 also featured a university fair with 30 representatives from 14 universities located in Indonesia, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Kingdom, demonstrating these universities’ regard for graduates of the ACT GAC program.
Day 2 continued with more workshops by educators and wrapped up with a presentation by ACT’s Changhua Rich on how the ACT GAC program is the embodiment of the ACT Holistic Framework and our strategy of becoming a Measurement, Learning and Navigation organization.
“Changhua’s presentation pulled together the themes, the presentations and the workshops into a coherent and compelling narrative of the value of the ACT GAC program specifically and why one should partner with ACT for even more programs,” said Ziv-el.
Twelve of the 14 attending universities are pathway institutions for ACT’s Global Assessment Certificate (GAC) program. The “G-A-C” is internationally recognized program that prepares students who do not have English as their first language to study and succeed in English-speaking colleges and universities. GAC programs can be found at institutions around the world, from Southeast Asia to South America, and many points in between.
The Southeast Asia Summit resulted in significant media coverage for ACT. Six journalists attended the event, resulting in articles and photos in media outlets throughout Indonesia.
Event Kudos
“The ACT in region team led by Pawan Adhikari, ACT Regional Director for South and Southeast Asia, together with Sella Tantoso, Any Sulianti and Puruhito in Indonesia and Christine Hoe from Singapore pulled off the most impressive event possible, in terms of participants, speakers, venue, catering and overall brand-boosting of ACT,” said Ziv-el. “I have no doubt that the summit will lead to the growth of our business in the region in the months and years ahead.”