ASEAN REFERENCE QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Transforming ASEAN into ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 shall make ASEAN become a “single market and production base”. This will ease the movement of skilled labors within the region. Graduates will have opportunities to seek jobs not only in their own countries but also in other ASEAN countries. At present, those high-level-officers responsible for economics and education in ASEAN have developed the so-called “ASEAN Reference Qualification Framework”. This framework is aimed to connect the National Qualification Framework and Higher Education Qualification Framework of every ASEAN country. Nevertheless, this ASEAN Reference Qualification Framework is only a macro - framework. The National Higher Education Qualification Framework and the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework of each ASEAN country, which serve as tools for opening a gateway to labor markets, will be the real tests for every ASEAN country. Lessons learned from applying Thailand’s Higher Education Qualification Framework into practice should be beneficial for bringing ASEAN Reference Qualification Framework into life.