Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2005
Next PageMain Text > Part II ODA DISBURSEMENTS IN FISCAL YEAR 2004 > Chapter 2 Details and New Policies about Japan's ODA: Striving for Further ODA Reforms > Section 5. Formulation and Implementation of ODA Policy > 2. Increasing Public Participation > (3) Development Education
(3) Development Education
Development education stimulates children's interests in development issues, promotes their understanding of ODA and other forms of international cooperation, and fosters their motivation for international cooperation.
One example of the learning activities conducted at elementary, junior-high, and high schools nationwide in the course known as "Period for Integrated Study" is education for international understanding closely related to development education. As such, the opportunities have increased to take up the problems faced by developing countries in school classes. The Government is actively working to promote development education of this type through, for example, MOFA's ODA website for promoting development education for compulsory education entitled "Tanken Shiyou! Minna no Chikyuu" ("Let's Explore Our World"). In addition to the above efforts, the Government has organized development education regional seminars, national assistance providers' conferences, human resources development seminars, and development education general seminars, and in FY2004 held the Contest of Development Education for International Understanding and published a development education handbook on Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs ), among other things.
Work chosen for FY2004 Contest of Development Education for International Understanding. During the course of their comprehensive studies a Japanese school in Peru experienced building adobe (sun-dried brick) houses, a building style used in the past in Peru
Meanwhile, JICA is working to disseminate development education by holding lectures-on-demand on international cooperation given by ex-JOCV members dispatched to schools as instructors, holding essay contests for junior high and high school students nationwide, and accepting students on school excursions, among other efforts. For its part, JBIC is working to expand development education at the citizen level by such means as holding seminars for promoting public participation in cooperation and graduate student thesis contests.