Since its introduction in 1992, the APEC Education Ministerial Meeting has served as a venue to narrow the education disparity in the Asia-Pacific region and set the future direction of education cooperation.

In the fifth APEC meeting in Gyeongju, education officials will review progress in international cooperation and set the direction for a new four-year education development plan.

The first meeting, “Toward Education Standards for the 21st Century,” took place in Washington, D.C.

Singapore hosted the second event in 2000 and it has since been held every four years. Chile hosted the third meeting and Peru the fourth.

New skills and competencies for coming challenges and quality education for all have been themes for past meetings.

The goal of this year’s meeting is to establish a practical vision and future direction for education cooperation. The participants will adopt the Gyeongju Communique on the final day on Wednesday.

(596story@heraldcorp.com)