In May 2015, the World Education Forum held in Incheon adopted the Framework for Action Education 2030 with an overarching goal of “ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning for all by 2030”. Rural education, which remains the weak point, is the indispensable part for the goal realization. In September 2015, the United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and rural education as a major component and a key area for policy actions has a close linkage with Goal 4 of SDGs.

Within that scope, UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED), Yunnan Normal University and Yunnan Agricultural University hosted an International Seminar on Education for Rural Transformation in Kunming on 18-22 December, 2017. The seminar brought together 35 education policy-makers, researchers and practitioners from the five Mekong countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) and Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. In the event, the participants made presentations on various aspects of learning & education for the aim of rural development, shared their views in discussion sessions, and paid a visit to two exemplary sites as good examples of rural transformation in China.

Contributing to the seminar, the representative of SEAMEO CELLL shared the good practices and impact of community learning centres (CLCs) in Vietnam, thus highlighting the important role of these centres in sustainable rural transformation. More importantly, a network of partners has been established, which will pave the way for companionship and future collaboration between centres and countries to further benefit education in remote areas in the region.