The Comparative Education Society of Asia (CESA) is an association of educational scholars, working to promote comparative education as a scholarly field across Asia and to strengthen Asian voices in global debates about education. The 11th CESA Biennial Conference is being held on 11–12 May 2018 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The theme for 2018 is ‘Education and Social Progress: Insights from Comparative Perspectives’. Some of the questions this year's conference seeks to answer are:

• What visions of a better society do we aspire to progress towards?
• How can education contribute to such progress?
• To what extent should we see education not only in instrumental terms – as a tool for achieving progress, however, defined – but also as constitutive in itself of the good life for which we aim?

On 12 May, a plenary panel discussion was dedicated to UNESCO MGIEP’s seminal report Rethinking Schooling: The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia. Dr Yoko Mochizuki, Head of Rethinking Curricula Programme of UNESCO MGIEP, presented the key findings.

The report is based on the analysis of 172 official documents in 18 languages based on a common coding scheme and extensive literature review on Asian schooling. It seeks to assess how far the aims and values encapsulated in SDG 4.7 have been incorporated into the educational policies and officially-mandated curricula of 22 Asian countries. By analysing current policies, curricular frameworks, subject syllabi, and textbooks, it aims to create a baseline against which further progress towards SDG 4.7 can be monitored. At the same time, it sets out to change the way we talk about and act upon SDG 4.7 and argues that a broader vision of education’s nature and social role is essential to our chances of achieving a peaceful and sustainable future for Asia and the world.

Panellists for the session included Mark Bray, UNESCO Chair Professor in Comparative Education at the University of Hong Kong; Edward Vickers, Professor of Comparative Education at Kyushu University, Japan; Yoko Mochizuki, Head of Rethinking Curricula Programme of UNESCO MGIEP and a specialist in comparative education; while the discussants included HE Ton Sa Im, Under Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport of Cambodia; Jandhyala B.G. Tilak,  Distinguished Professor at the Council for Social Development and former Vice-chancellor at National University of Educational Planning and Administration, India; Jeremy Rappleye, Associate Professor at Kyoto University, Graduate School of Education.