The ASEAN Council of Teachers (ACT) has passed four resolutions, underlining the role of professionalism in delivering quality education through culturalisation towards meeting the Asean Community 2015.

The other resolutions focused on closer interaction of teachers to foster goodwill and mutual understanding with the ASEAN community, in addition to boosting collaboration between ASEAN countries and educational organisations to develop, sustain and support the standard of professionalism for teachers, according to the National News Agency of Malaysia (Bernama).

The 29th meeting of the ASEAN Council of Teachers (ACT) took place in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia from Oct. 11-13, attracting the participation of about 900 delegates from ASEAN countries and the Republic of Korea .

Addressing at the closing ceremony, President of the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) Hashim Adnan said quality education should be achieved through stringent entry requirements, training and continuous professional development of teachers.

To achieve this goal, he stressed quality education needed three important elements, namely quality teaching and learning; contemporary curricula, learning tools and resources; and conducive teaching and learning environment.

The NUTP President also pointed out the need to ensure equal access to quality education at all levels without discrimination or prejudice, and it should start as early as primary school. In addition, professionalism of teachers could be raised through selective recruitment, continuing professional development and comprehensive career development, he said.-VNA