Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Andreas Schleicher
Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division
Directorate for Education
OECD
As Division Head, Andreas Schleicher’s responsibilities include directing the
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD
Indicators of Education Systems programme (INES) and steering the
development of new projects such as the OECD Teaching and Learning
International Survey (TALIS) and the OECD Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
At the OECD, Andreas Schleicher has also held the posts of Deputy Head of
the Statistics and Indicators Division in the former Directorate for Education,
Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (1997-2002) and Project Manager in
the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) (19941996). Before joining the OECD, he served as Director for Analysis at the
International Association for Educational Achievement (IEA) within the
Institute for Educational Research in the Netherlands (1993-1994) and International Co-ordinator for the
IEA Reading Literacy Study, at the University of Hamburg, Germany (1989-1992). Originally a graduate in
physics, he subsequently studied mathematics at Deakin University in Australia, where his master's
thesis received the Bruce Choppin Award.
In 2003, Andreas Schleicher was awarded the "Theodor Heuss" prize, named after the first president of
the German Federal Republic of Germany, for "exemplary democratic engagement" in association with
the public debate on PISA. He also holds an honorary professorship at the University of Heidelberg in
Germany. In 2002, Andreas Schleicher was awarded the "educación y libertad en el ámbito educativo"
prize by the Spanish national association of private schools.
A German citizen, Andreas Schleicher is married, with three children. He speaks German, English,
Italian, French and Spanish.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Gwang-Jo Kim
Director
UNESCO Office Bangkok
Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education
Bangkok, Thailand
Gwang-Jo Kim. Born in 1955 in the Republic of Korea, Mr. Kim holds a B.A.
degree in Public Administration from Korea University, Seoul (1978), a
Master’s degree (1984) and a Ph.D. (1994) in Education from Harvard
University, U.S.A. Mr. Kim has worked in various capacities for the
Government of the Republic of Korea. As Deputy Minister of Education and
Human Resources, he initiated the “Global Human Resources Forum”,
aimed at providing an international platform for sharing information,
knowledge and best practices in human resources issues among leaders.
He also worked in the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea,
where he assisted former President Young Sam Kim in the fields of
education and social policy. Mr. Kim also played a key role in an education
reform initiative that aimed to restructure the entire Korean educational
system. During 2001-2004 Mr. Kim worked at the World Bank in Washington D.C. as a Senior Education
Specialist, Mr. Kim acquired widespread international expertise, coordination, networking and overall
programmatic management and delivery skills. He is a member of various professional associations on
education policy, finance and economics, and has published works in education and ICT, and educational
reform. Prior to joining UNESCO, Mr. Kim was Professor at the Graduate School of Education at
Keimyung University in Daigu, Republic of Korea. Mr. Kim is currently the Director of UNESCO Office
Bangkok/Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Sunee Klainin
PISA Thailand National Project Manager
Bangkok, Thailand
Sunee Klainin is currently PISA Thailand National Project Manager. She has
extensive experience in education. She was a science education specialist and
curriculum developer at the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and
Technology (IPST). She was Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, Mahidol
University International College, and Associate Professor, Centre for Language
and Education Technology, at The Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. She
has publications in many international journals, mainly focusing on science
education and gender issues in science learning. She has a Ph.D. (Science
Education, Chemistry) from Monash University, Australia.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Khattab Abulibdeh
Senior Researcher
National Center for Human Resources Development
Jordan
Khattab Abulibdeh has a PhD. in Measurement and Evaluation from Jordan
University in 1993. He works as a senior researcher at the National Center for
Human Resources Development (NCHRD).
Mr.Abulibdeh is the National
Research Coordinator for Jordan in TIMSS 1999, TIMSS 2003, TIMSS 2007 and
TIMSS 2011. He is also the National Project Manager for Jordan for PISA2006,
PISA2009 and PISA 2012. Mr. Abulibdeh, with collaboration with his team at
NCHRD, conducted the National Assessment for Knowledge Economy (NAfKE)
in Jordan in two cycles 2006 and 2008. He wrote national reports for TIMSS,
PISA and NAfKE. Mr. Abulibdeh participated in designing and conducting a
series of research studies related to monitoring and evaluation of Educational
Reform for Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) Project in Jordan.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Yeap Ban Har
Professor
National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Yeap Ban Har is presently involved in teacher training at the National Institute
of Education at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore where he
teaches mathematics education. His research interest includes mathematical
problem solving and problem posing, early numeracy and teacher
professional development. Ban Har is involved in teacher training in the
region and has done them same elsewhere – mostly in the US and Chile. Ban
Har holds a Ph.D. in mathematics education and Masters of Education and
Masters of Arts in Southeast Asian Studies.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Esther Sui-chu Ho
Professor
Dept of Education Administration and Policy
Director of HKPISA Centre
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Esther Sui-chu Ho, BSc, DipEd, MA(Ed) (CUHK), PhD (UBC), is Professor,
Department of Educational Administration and Policy, The Chinese University
of Hong Kong. Director of the Hong Kong Center for International Student
Assessment. Project Manager of HKPISA-2000, 2003, 2006, 2009. Consultant
of Macao-PISA2003 and China-PISA 2006 Trial and Shanghai-PISA 2009.
Fulbright Scholar at Pennsylvania State University; Research Associate of the
project Education and Development in South China. Teaching assistant and
research assistant in the University of British Columbia, Canada. Teaching
consultant of the World Bank in the District Primary Educational Program in
India. Primary and Secondary School teacher in Hong Kong. Research
interests: Parental Involvement, Home School Community Collaboration,
International Assessment of Student Performance, School Effectiveness and
School Reform, Decentralization and School-based Management, Research Methodology in Education,
Multilevel Analysis in Educational Research.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Kai Yu
Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Education
General Office, the Graduate School of Education
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Kai Yu is Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Education, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, where he also serves as the Executive Director of the Center
for the Study of Graduate Education. His research focuses on higher
education in China, graduate education, and higher education management.
Kai Yu obtained his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degree from
University of Oxford in the field of educational studies. He holds Bachelor of
Engineering degree (with First Class Honours) from Queen's University of
Belfast where he studied Computer Science.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Pham Xuan Thanh
Deputy Director General, General Department of Education Testing and Accreditation (GDETA)
Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)
Pham Xuan Thanh is Deputy Director General, General Department of
Education Testing and Accreditation (GDETA), Ministry of Education and
Training (MOET), Vietnam. He graduated in Mining engineering in 1984 from
Donesk University of Technology, Ukraine and PhD in Mining engineering in
1988 from the same university. Back to Vietnam in 1988, he worked for the
Department of Postgraduate training, MOET. After 10 year working here, he
decided to go to study for the Master degree of Education (specialized in
measurement and evaluation) in the University of Melbourne, Australia and
graduated in 2000. Dr. Pham Xuan Thanh was appointed the head of division
of education accreditation since 2002; then the head of division of education
accreditation, GDETA; since 2007 he was appointed the Deputy Director,
General of GDETA. He used to joint in SEAMEO Quality Assurance official
Group in 2002-2003 and had participated in development of Regional Framework for Higher education
Quality Assurance for South East Asian countries. In his country, he has leaded the development of
education accreditation procedure, development of institutional and programme accreditation
standards, supervise accreditation process to all universities, colleges, professional secondary schools,
primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools in whole country. Dr. Pham Xuan Thanh is also
interested in higher education performance indicators, performance indicators of general school, large
scale evaluation, institutional and programme accreditation, university ranking. He developed initial and
designed in early stage of development of Project “Development 5 quality assurance center in 5
universities and strengthening quality assurance capacities at the macro level. He involved in
implementation of the higher education project No 1, 2; Primary Teacher Development Project and has
involved in development of the higher education project No 3, School Quality assurance project, loaned
by WB. He also involve in Lower Secondary Teacher education Project, Project of upper secondary and
professional school teacher developments, loaned by ADB.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Albert Motivans
Head, Education Indicators and Data Analysis
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Albert Motivans heads the Education Indicators and Data Analysis (EIDA)
Division of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics where he oversees the global
development, collection and analysis of cross-national education indicators
for benchmarking education policy and monitoring progress towards the
international development targets. He has written widely on global
education trends and the use of indicators for policy analysis and regularly
contributes to the Global Education Digest and EFA Global Monitoring
Report. He has worked in the field of measurement and child welfare for
more than 20 years with the U.S. Census Bureau, UNICEF and since 2001
with UNESCO.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Gero Federkeil
CHE Centre for Higher Education Development
Germany
Gero Federkeil holds a degree in sociology from University of Bielefeld
(Germany). After working for some years in empirical social research he joint
the German National Science Council in 1993. Working there for seven years
in university planning, evaluation and policy consulting. Since 2000 he is
working for the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE), an nonprofit organisation dealing with higher education policy and consulting. His
main field of work is university ranking. He has published on quality
assurance, evaluation, benchmarking, performance indicators and rankings.
Member of the CHERPA Network team working on the U-Multirank-project to
develop a global multi-dimensional university ranking. Vice-Chair of IREG –
International Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence (International
Ranking Expert Group).
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Lester Flockton
Educational Assessment Research Unit
University of Otago
New Zealand
Lester Flockton is a graduate of Dunedin Teachers College and the University of
Otago. He has extensive experience in New Zealand’s school system as a
teacher, principal, inspector of schools, Ministry of Education official,
researcher, university teacher, educational thinker and leader. Throughout his
career in education he has worked on many national curriculum committees
and projects, including the revised New Zealand Curriculum (2007), led
numerous professional development programs, made dozens of conference
presentations, and held office in various professional organizations. He and his
colleague Terry Crooks were the prime developers and co-directors of New
Zealand’s National Education Monitoring Project, which is widely recognized
nationally and internationally. Lester maintains a wide-ranging interest and
involvement in matters impacting on teaching and learning, curriculum and assessment, and the
leadership, governance and management of schools. He examines the claims of research, policy and
practice with a critical mind. Lester is a Senior Research Fellow and Emeritus Director of the Educational
Assessment Research Unit at the University of Otago, and the National Education Monitoring Project.
He has received a number of honours in recognition of his service to education in New Zealand.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Fred Brooker
Senior Education Adviser
AusAID
Fred Brooker is an education specialist with over twenty five years of shortand long-term experience supporting education ministries in Sub-Saharan
Africa and the Pacific. Some of the countries include Namibia, Mozambique,
Ethiopia and Zambia. Fred has wide experience in international development
spanning a range of disciplines from strategic planning, policy development,
monitoring and evaluation, sector wide approaches (SWAps) and direct
budget support to the aid effectiveness agenda. His specific areas of
expertise in education include educational planning and management,
education policy reform, teacher training, adult education and institutional
development. Fred is currently working for AusAID as a Senior Education
Adviser in Papua New Guinea.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Michael M. Alba
Associate Professor
De La Salle University
Manila, Philippines
Michael M. Alba is an associate professor of economics at De La Salle University,
Manila. From 2001 to 2006, he was dean of the College of Business and
Economics in the same university. His academic papers span a wide range of
topics, such as hospital cost functions, gender and inter-industry wage
differentials, overseas workers’ remittances, household consumption and saving,
and economic growth. Mr. Alba was president of the Philippine Economic
Society in 2007. He has a PhD from Stanford.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Paitoon Sinlarat
Professor of Higher Education, and Vice President for Research and Academic Services
DhurakijPundit University
Thailand
Paitoon Sinlarat, is Professor of Higher Education, and Vice President for
Research and Academic Services, DhurakijPundit University, Thailand. He has
received a B.Ed. and M.Ed. form Chulalongkorn University, and a Ph.D. from the
University of Pittsburgh.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Manit Boonprasert
Instructor
Rangsit University
Thailand
 Cert. in Higher Education Management, University of Oxford and
Warwick, UK
 Ed.D. (Language Communication), University of Pittsburgh, USA
 Dip. (TESL), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
 M.Ed. (Educational Administration), Chulalongkorn University,Thailand
 B.A.(English), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
 B.Ed. (Secondary Education), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Chris Sakellariou
Associate Professor
Division of Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences
NTU
Chris Sakellariou is an Associate Professor at the division of Economics,
Humanities and Social Sciences, NTU. He specializes in Applied Labor
Economics, Economics of Education and Applied Microeconomics. He
conducts research and publishes mostly in the area of the Economics of
Education and Economics of Gender. He has frequently acted as consultant
and undertaken collaborative research with World Bank staff and has
authored or co-authored several papers under the World Bank Policy
Research Working Papers series.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Tan Oon Seng
Dean of Foundation Programmes Office
National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
Professor Tan Oon Seng is a Dean at National Institute of Education, Nanyang
Technological University. He is the Immediate Past President of the
Educational Research Association of Singapore and President of the AsiaPacific Educational Research Association (APERA). He is also the VicePresident (Asia & Pacific Rim) of the International Association for Cognitive
Education and Psychology (IACEP) based in USA. He is also Editor-in-Chief of
the scientific journal Educational Research for Policy & Practice (ERPP)
published by Springer. Dr Tan is a well-known international speaker and has
delivered numerous keynote addresses in USA, Australia and many parts of
Asia (including Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Brunei and Malaysia).
Recently he was invited by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to give the
EHR Distinguished Lecture at Washington, D.C. He also delivered presidential
sessions at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meetings in 2007 and 2008.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Naoki Umemiya
Assistant Director
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Dr. Naoki Umemiya is Assistant Director, Basic Education Division I and II,
Human Development Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA). He specializes in basic and higher education, especially school-based
management, quality assurance, and inter-university exchanges and
cooperation. From 2005 to 2009, he was stationed in Bangkok, Thailand, and
served for the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asian Engineering
Education Development Network (AUN/SEED-Net) as a JICA expert. He holds
an M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Ph.D. from Tokyo
Institute of Technology. Recent publications include Impacts of InterUniversity Exchanges and Cooperation on Reforms of Doctoral Programs in
Southeast Asia, Forum of International Development Studies (39), pp57-74,
2010 (co-author) and Possibilities and Limitations of Multilateral Network
Cooperation in Higher Education in a Knowledge-based Society, Technology and Development (21),
pp.45-57, 2008 (co-author).
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Jimin Cho
Head of Department of Planning & Analysis
Division of College Scholastic Ability Test in KICE
Jimin Cho has BA in Education from Korea University (1988), MA in
Educational Measurement and Evaluation from Michigan State University
(1990), and Ph.D. in Educational Statistics and Research from Michigan State
University (1999). She had been responsible for National Assessment of
Educational Achievement in Korea. Also she worked for TIMSS project in USA
and PISA project in Korea. Currently, she is in charge of planning and analysis
for CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test). Her major experience has been in
developing the framework for test and especially scoring and reporting
based on in-depth analyses of National-level tests in KICE.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Taufik Hanafi
Director for Education and Religious Affairs
Ministry of National Development Planning
Bappenas, Indonesia
Taufik Hanafi has a doctoral degree in Urban, Technological and Environmental Planning, from College of
Architecture and Urban Planning-the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, and a bachelor degree in
Industrial Engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia. Since joining
Bappenas, he has been in various important posts in the areas of community health and nutrition. The
current position is Director for Education and Religious Affairs, Bappenas (2005-present).
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Chuan-Leong Lam
Ambassador; Chairman of the Competition Commission
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singapore
Mr Chuan-Leong Lam is an Ambassador at Large with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the Chairman of the Competition Commission of Singapore. Mr
Lam retired in 2006 after serving as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministries
of Finance, the Environment, National Development, Trade and Industry, and
Communications and Information. Prior to that, he was the Principal Private
Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He has served with the
Ministry of Defence as a Deputy Secretary. He has served as Chairman of the
Infocomm Development Authority and was also Chairman of the National
Science and Technology Board, [now re-named as A*Star]. He was a Board
member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Mr Lam's key interest is in
general management and conomic policy issues. Besides macroeconomic
policy, he was involved in micro-economic issues such as general competition,
liberalisation and regulatory policies. Mr Lam graduated from the University of
Singapore with First Class Honours in Physics. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Euston Quah
Head of Economics and Acting Chair
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Professor Euston Quah is Head of Economics and Acting Chair of the School
of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. Prior to this, he was Vice-Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
at the National University of Singapore; Deputy Director of the Public Policy
Programme (now called the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy); Founding
Director of the Singapore Centre for Applied and Policy Economics (SCAPE);
and headed the economics department at the National University of
Singapore. He is a prolific writer with more than 60 peer reviewed
publications in well-known international journals and some 5 books including
Cost-Benefit Analysis (5th edition with E.J. Mishan; Routledge, UK); Siting
Environmentally Unwanted Facilities (with KC Tan; Edward Elgar, UK) and
published a textbook, Principles of Economics, (Thomson, USA) with Gregory
Mankiw (former Chairman of US Council of Economic Advisors and Harvard Professor. He is an advisor
to the government on the environment as well as contributed to cost-benefit studies on key public
projects. In 2009 - 2010, he served as a Member for the Singapore Government’s Economic Strategies
Sub-Committee on Energy and Environment. Professor Quah is Editor of the Singapore Economic
Review.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Chew Soon Beng
Professor of Economics and Industrial Relations
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Chew Soon Beng is Professor of Economics and Industrial Relations at
Nanyang Technological University. He is author/co-author of The Singapore
Worker: A Profile (Oxford University Press), Workers’ Perceptions of Wage
Determination in Singapore (Times Academic Press), Small Firms in Singapore
(Oxford University Press), Trade Unionism in Singapore (McGraw Hill),
Employment-Driven Industrial Relations Regimes (Avebury), Values and
Lifestyles of Young Singaporeans (Prentice-Hall) and a recipient of the
Singapore National Book Prize.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Ho Kong Weng
Assistant Professor
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Dr Ho obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago. He has been teaching
HE405 Growth Theory and Empirics and HE192 Economic Theory next
semester. He is supervising 1 graduate student, and 2 undergraduates in their
final-year projects. He had mentored JC/IP students under the Nanyang
Research Program (NRP). One project of NRP 2007 won a Merit Award. Three
projects of NRP 2008 mentored by Dr Ho won gold awards. One project of NRP
2009 won a Gold Award. Dr Ho had published in the areas of social mobility,
international outsourcing, wage inequality, technopreneurship, and
unemployment, including both theoretical investigations and empirical studies
using Singapore data. His current research topics include intergenerational
transmission of religious human capital, economic growth of a small open
economy in a world of ideas, trade and indeterminacy, non-monotonic
relationship between human capital and unemployment, and happiness studies.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Emmanuel Jimenez
Sector Director
East Asia and the Pacific Region, Human Development
World Bank
Emmanuel Jimenez, from the Philippines, has held a variety of positions as an
economist and manager in the policy, research and operational units of the
World Bank. He is currently Sector Director, Human Development, in the
World Bank’s East Asia Region, where he is responsible for managing
operational staff working on education and health issues. Prior to this
position, he held a similar position in the Bank’s South Asia Region. In 200506, he also led the team that prepared the World Development Report 2007:
Development and the Next Generation. Before 2000, he served for many
years in the Bank’s Development Economics Staff, where he managed staff
and also engaged in research on a variety of issues, including education and
health finance, the private provision of social services, the economics of
transfer programs and urban development. Before joining the World Bank,
Mr. Jimenez was on the faculty of the economics department at the University of Western Ontario in
London, Canada.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Jamil Salmi
Lead Education Specialist
Human Development Network
World Bank
Jamil Salmi, a Moroccan education economist, is the World Bank’s tertiary
education coordinator. He is the principal author of the Bank’s Tertiary
Education Strategy entitled “Constructing Knowledge Societies:
New
Challenges for Tertiary Education”. In the past seventeen years, Mr. Salmi has
provided policy and technical advice on tertiary education reform to the
governments of more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South
America. Mr. Salmi is a member of the Governing Board of the International
Institute for Educational Planning, the International Rankings Expert Group,
the International Advisory Network of the UK Leadership Foundation for
Higher Education, and the Editorial Committee of OECD’s Journal of Higher
Education Management and Policy. Mr. Salmi’s latest book, published in
February 2009, addresses the “Challenge of Establishing World-Class
Universities”.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Robin Horn
Education Sector Manager
Human Development Network
World Bank
Robin Horn is the Education Sector Manager of the World Bank's Human
Development Network. He is responsible for leading the work program
charged with developing the concepts and strategies for education sector
policy at the World Bank and for supporting country programs and
professional development in the areas of “Quality Learning for All” –
Addressing Opportunities for All Students to Learn,” “Skills and Knowledge for
Competitiveness and Growth” - Building Competencies for Lifelong Learning,
Employment, Productivity, and Innovation-Led Growth, and “Education
Systems for Results” - Generating Evidence, Tools, and System Governance to
Achieve Better Results. From 2002 until 2006 he was Lead Education Specialist
in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region where he had lead
responsibility for the World Bank’s education program of analytic work and
lending for Turkey. Between 1992 and 2003 he was responsible for the Bank’s education program for
Brazil, as well for other countries in the Latin American and Caribbean Region. During that period, he
lived in Brazil. Robin Horn’s work with the Bank has involved collaboration with national governments,
state governments, civil society organizations, and academics in the US and across the world. His
education sector research, programs, and projects have focused on education quality, learning
outcomes, management, and finance for basic, secondary, and tertiary education systems. Before
joining the World Bank, Dr. Horn worked as an education economist in the United States Agency for
International Development and as a researcher with the private sector providing analysis and support to
the U.S. Federal Government. Dr. Horn has a Ph.D. in Economics of Education from Columbia University
in New York City.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Marguerite Clarke
Senior Education Specialist
Human Development Network
World Bank
Marguerite Clarke is a Senior Education Specialist in the Human Development
Network at the World Bank. Previously, she held academic appointments at
universities in Australia and the U.S. She also worked as a classroom teacher
in the Chinese, Irish, Japanese and U.S. education systems. Marguerite’s work
focuses on equity and quality issues in education, particularly in relation to
the development and use of assessment and accountability systems. She
leads the Bank’s work on learning assessment and is a member of the READ
Technical Group. In addition to assisting individual countries, such as India,
Jordan, Kosovo and Mongolia, to improve their student assessments, her
recent projects include developing tools for evaluating the quality of
assessment systems and overseeing the production of a book series on how
to carry out a national assessment of educational achievement. She has a
Doctorate in educational research, measurement and evaluation; a Bachelor’s degree in primary
education; and a Master’s degree in bilingual and multicultural education. The recipient of a Fulbright
Fellowship and other awards, Dr. Clarke has published extensively on university rankings; the impact of
testing on teaching and learning; and the use of tests for promotion, graduation and university
admission decisions. She is on the editorial board of the journal, Theory into Practice.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Emiliana Vegas
Senior Education Economist
Human Development Network
World Bank
Emiliana Vegas is a Venezuelan national and has a doctorate in education
from Harvard University with a concentration in economics of education.
Prior to going to Harvard, Emiliana worked in Research Triangle Institute’s
Center for International Development. She has a master’s degree in public
policy studies from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism
from Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas, Venezuela. She joined the
Bank as a Young Professional in 2000, worked in LAC during 2003-2008, and
joined HDNED in 2008. She is the author of several articles in peer-reviewed
journals and institutional reports, many of them focusing on education
quality, teacher labor markets and teacher incentives. Her most recent book
(co-authored with Lucrecia Santibáñez) focuses on Early Childhood
Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (2010, The World Bank
Press). She co-authored (with Jenny Petrow) Raising Student Learning in Latin America: The Challenge
for the 21st Century (2007, The World Bank Press) and edited Incentives to Improve Teaching: Lessons
from Latin America (2005, The World Bank Press).
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Juliana Guaqueta
Education Economist
Human Development Network
The World Bank
Juliana Guaqueta is an Education Economist with HDNED. Her fields of
interest include the role of public-private partnerships in basic education,
program evaluation and the relationship between education policy and
student learning. She conducts research on public-private partnerships in
education with a focus on contracting; analyzes the growth and impact of
philanthropic activities, international and domestic partnerships in education;
evaluates PPPs around the world; and manages ongoing impact evaluations
in Africa and Asia. She received a Master's degree in International Education
Policy from Harvard University in 2007. After graduation she advised a private
foundation in Colombia on the design of educational interventions and on the
development of a social philanthropy strategy within a public-private
partnership framework. Prior to attending Harvard, she worked (2004-2006)
at Creative Associates International, Inc. on the Basic Education and Policy Support Project, to assist
developing and newly developed nations to improve quality, access, management and effectiveness of
their educational systems. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Finances and International Relations from
Externado de Colombia University in Bogota, Colombia and certificates from American University in
Washington DC.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Eduardo Velez Bustillo
Sector Manager
Education, East Asia and the Pacific
World Bank
Eduardo Velez has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Illinois. His field
of study was Applied Social Statistics. His areas of interest include Sociology of
Social and Economic Development, Sociology of Education, and Analysis and
Evaluation of Development Programs. Dr. Velez has had a long trajectory at
the World Bank in Washington D.C., Mexico City and in Beijing. He is
currently Education Sector Manager for East Asia and the Pacific, and has
been Education Sector Manager for Latin American and the Caribbean, Sector
Coordinator (Human Development) for the China program, Sector Leader
(Human and Social Development for Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela), and
Human Development Cluster Leader for Uganda and Tanzania. He also served
as Principal Education Specialist for Eastern and Southern Africa. Before
joining the World Bank, Dr. Velez was Adjunct Director at Instituto Ser de
Investigación in Bogotá, Colombia, his country of origin. Dr. Velez has also held an academic career. He
has been a Visiting Professor at the following places: Universidad Nacional, Bogotá; Brown University;
University of Connecticut; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá; Universidad Pedagógica Nacional,
Bogotá; and at the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. Dr. Velez has written extensively on the subject of
Economics, Education, Development and Sociology (has published nine books and more than 90 articles
in professional journals or as chapters in books, and research reports).
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Emilio Ernesto Porta Pallais
Senior Education Specialist
Human Development Network
The World Bank
Emilio Porta has been the EdStats Leader in the Human Development
Network of the World Bank since 2007. During this time he has revamped the
EdStats site increasing users by 500% and provided cross support in the areas
of learning outcomes and budgeting by results. From 2005 until 2007 he was
Education Finance, Planning and Budgeting Advisor in Guatemala where he
coordinated a broad spectrum of research on education policy issues and
advised the Ministry of Education in its implementation of a results-based
budget. Between 2000 and 2005 he was Advisor to the Minister of Education,
Nicaragua and Director General in the Ministry of Education. His work
consisted of planning, implementing, and evaluating educational policies,
donor coordination, and the development of the education statistical system.
He led the implementation of the Nicaraguan 2002-2005 Sector Wide
Approach obtaining more than 100 million dollars in cooperation and led the implementation of the first
national student assessment. He has also conducted research projects funded by the World Bank, IDB,
UNESCO and USAID in the educational planning, EMIS, areas of learning outcomes, school based
management among others.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Roberta Malee Bassett
Tertiary Education Specialist
Human Development Network
World Bank
Roberta Malee Bassett is a tertiary education specialist working with the
Education team in the World Bank's Human Development Network.
Ms.Bassett has contributed to projects on university rankings and world-class
universities, as well as on country reports for Malaysia, Ukraine, Russia, and
Thailand. Her current work focuses on two activities: equity in tertiary
education, and benchmarking of tertiary education systems. Before joining
the Bank, Ms. Bassett held the post of Lecturer in Higher Education
Management and Policy at the Centre for Higher Education Management and
Policy, the University of Southampton (UK). She received her PhD. in
(international) higher education from Boston College (BC) in 2005, and her
dissertation research concerned international trade policies and their
implications for American higher education. While serving as a research
assistant in BC's Center for International Higher Education, Ms. Bassett was the Managing Editor for two
educational journals--Educational Policy (2004-2005) and The Review of Higher Education (2000-2004).
In earlier academic administration work, Ms. Bassett served as Assistant Dean and Director of Summer
Session at Stanford University (1995-2000). Ms. Bassett received her BA in Political Science from
Columbia University and her MA in Social Sciences in Educational Practice: Higher Education
Administration from Stanford University. She is the author several journal articles as well as the book
"The WTO and the university: Globalization, GATS, and American higher education" (Routledge 2006)
and the co-editor (with Alma Maldonado-Maldonado) of "International organizations and higher
education policy: Thinking globally, acting locally?" (Routledge, 2009).
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Kevin Macdonald
Economist
Human Development Network
World Bank
Kevin Macdonald is an economist with the Human Development Network's
Education Sector at the World Bank. His current work focuses on econometric
analyses of international student assessment data, the development of
indicators for effective education systems in East Asia, and capacity building
on analytical skills in the Middle East. His recent work also includes analyzing
household survey data to measure MDG progress for indigenous peoples and
members of different religions. He has a master's degree in economics from
the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Harry Anthony Patrinos
Lead Education Economist
Human Development Network
The World Bank
Harry Anthony Patrinos is Lead Education Economist at the World Bank. He
leads the Benchmarking Education Systems for Results work program. He
specializes in all areas of education, especially school-based management,
demand-side financing and public-private partnerships. He has published
more than 40 journal articles, and co-authored several books, including: The
Role and Impact of Public-Private Partnerships in Education (World Bank
2009), Indigenous Peoples, Poverty and Human Development in Latin
America (Palgrave 2006), Policy Analysis of Child Labor: A Comparative Study
(St. Martin's, 1999), Decentralization of Education: Demand-Side Financing
(World Bank, 1997), and Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America: An
Empirical Analysis with George Psacharopoulos (World Bank/Ashgate, 1994).
He manages the Economics of Education Thematic Group. Dr. Patrinos
previously worked as an economist at the Economic Council of Canada. He has a Ph.D. from the
University of Sussex.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Jee Peng Tan
Education Advisor
Human Development Network
The World Bank
Jee Peng Tan is currently Education Advisor in the Human Development
Network of the World Bank where she leads the Network’s program on skills
development and technical and vocational education and training. Between
2005 and 2009 she served as Education Advisor in the Africa Region’s Human
Development Department where she provided leadership on the
Department’s analytical and policy work on education in Africa, mentored
junior staff, and represented the Department on matters pertaining to
education in Africa. A staff member of the World Bank since 1981, Ms. Tan
has worked as an economist in several regions of the institution, including
South Asia, East Asia and the Middle East and North Africa; taught courses on
policy analysis in education; pioneered the use of Quality Enhancement
Reviews to improve the quality of World Bank operations in education; and
created the EdStats website as a knowledge sharing platform, and served as a core member of the team
for the 1993 World Development Report on Investing in Health. Ms. Tan has a B.Sc. in economics from
the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.
Benchmarking Education Systems for Results
East Asia Regional Conference
21-23 June 2010, Singapore
Partnered with the Korean Government, the Nanyang Technological University, the UK Department for International
Development, the Education Program Development Fund, Russian Education Aid for Development, and UNESCO.
Speaker Biography
Sungmin Park
Senior Education Specialist
Human Development Network
The World Bank
Sungmin Park joined the Education team, Human Development Network from
the Korean government in March 2010. As a Senior Education Specialist,
Sungmin specializes in the areas of higher education and vocational
education. In this role, he is involved in a variety of education projects such as
higher education, skills development and Benchmarking Education System for
Results. Additionally, he develops collaborative projects between Korea and
World Bank in field of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in
education and Global HR Forum in Seoul.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Sungmin worked for over 19 years at the
Ministry of Education in Korea which was recently renamed to Ministry of
Education, Science & Technology. He has worked in a various fields of
educational policy. He worked as assistant director of teacher policy division and international
cooperation division and he was director of HRD policy division in 2007. He also worked in the Office of
the President as assistant secretary to the president for education from 2008 to 2010. He graduated
from the University of Iowa in 2004 with a Ph.D. in educational administration and also holds a M.A in
public policy from Yonsei University (1997) and a B.A.degree from Korea University (1991).