Japan's Official Development Assistance White Paper 2007
Next PageMain Text > Part II ODA ODA Record for FY2006 > Chapter 2 Details about Japan's Official Development Assistance > Section 6. Formulation and Implementation of Aid Policy > 2. Increasing Public Participation > (3) Development Education
(3) Development Education
Development education stimulates children's interest in development issues, and promotes their understanding of and fosters their motivation for international cooperation.
Education for international understanding, which is closely related to development education, is illustrated in one of the learning activities conducted at elementary, junior high, and high schools nationwide in the course known as "Period for Integrated Study." As such, 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 website for promoting development education for compulsory education entitled "Tanken Shiyou! Minna no Chikyuu (Let's Explore Our World)" and also through providing various teaching materials, including an animation etc., for development education in the Plaza for International Cooperation website. In addition to the above efforts, from FY2003 the Government has organized the Contest of Development Education/International Understanding every year.
Under the ODA Citizen Monitoring Program (see this section (4)), teachers' quota was established in FY2004 to allow use of the results of field observations in development education provided at schools. In addition, a quota for high school students was established in FY2007 in order to encourage participation by students themselves. The ODA On-Demand-Delivery Lectures (see this section (4)) begun in 2005 are implemented at educational scenes.
Meanwhile, JICA and JBIC are also making efforts to disseminate development education. In response to the requests of school education facilities and local governments promoting the internationalization of their regions, JICA implements lectures-on-demand on international cooperation, which dispatches persons with JOCV experience to schools and other institutions as instructors and holds essay contests for middle school and high school students nationwide. JICA also supports persons engaged in education through the Development Education Teachers' Seminar and Teachers' Overseas Training. In April 2006, JICA opened the JICA Global Plaza to serve as a base for citizens-participatory cooperation projects, including development education assistance. A total of 66,000 persons visited the plaza in FY2006, and by September 2007, 111,000 persons had visited the plaza.
JBIC accepts students on school trips for group learning and dispatches personnel to give lectures, in addition to which JBIC also holds the ODA Loan Partnership Seminar and the JBIC Thesis Contest for Students aimed at undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, JBIC dispatches instructors to the aforementioned JICA Global Plaza in order to further collaboration between JICA and JBIC toward the establishment of the new JICA.