We, the Ministers of Education of Japan, the Republic of Korea and the People’s Republic of China, gathered in Seoul, Korea on January 30, 2016, for the First Trilateral Education Ministers’ Meeting.
The Trilateral Education Ministers’ Meeting was decided to be launched by the three Leaders at the Sixth Trilateral Summit Meeting among Japan, Korea and China held on November 1, 2015 in Seoul, Korea, during which the three Leaders reaffirmed the important role of education for promoting mutual understanding and common development among the three countries.
The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China appreciated the efforts made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education of the Republic of Korea, the Chair country, in launching and hosting the meeting.
We reached the common recognition that an enhanced cooperation in the field of education among the three countries is imperative in fostering creative talent that will contribute to global peace and prosperity in the shared spirit of community as close neighbors.
With this in mind, we have decided as follows:
1-1. We decided to hold the Trilateral Education Ministers’ Meeting annually to explore ways to expand cooperation in the field of education among the three countries.
1-2. We welcomed the participation of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) in the Trilateral Education Ministers’ Meeting, and we will closely work with the TCS for educational cooperation among the three countries.
2-1. We reaffirmed the importance of promoting mutual understanding among the youth of the three countries by providing them with opportunities to experience the different culture and lifestyle of each country. With this in mind, we decided to expand and encourage youth exchange among the three countries, in both the public and private sector.
2-2. We decided to promote exchange between primary and secondary students of the three countries, and to support them further for greater cooperation under a slogan of “1000 Schools Hands Together among Korea, Japan and China”.
2-3. We decided to establish an exchange program for college students of the three countries that aims to provide them with opportunities to recognize their shared responsibility in addressing global issues including respect for human rights, eradication of poverty, protection of the environment and promotion of cultural heritage and sustainable development, while agreeing to discuss further on details including program scheme, contents, and taking turns in operating the program.
2-4. Acknowledging the importance of mutual understanding as the foundation for shared prosperity and close cooperation, we reached the common recognition on the importance of learning each other’s language among the three countries.
2-5. We will explore possibilities for further cooperation in the field of vocational and entrepreneurship education to produce future talent that will drive the economic development of the three countries.
3-1. Speaking highly of the great contribution of the CAMPUS Asia Program, which was operated on a pilot basis since 2011 as a follow-up measure of the Trilateral Summit held in 2010, in expanding dual degree programs and joint courses as well as the exchange of scholars and students among the three countries, we expressed our intention to increasing our financial support for the program, which will start its operation as a full-fledged program in September 2016.
3-2. We will continue to cooperate in laying the legal, institutional and procedural foundation for an exchange-friendly environment for college students of the three countries, and will put more emphasis and further strengthen cooperation on the quality assurance of higher education of the three countries.
3-3. Hoping to see the expansion of the CAMPUS Asia Program all the way across the Asian region as a long-term objective, we will discuss further about its feasibility.
3-4. In addition to the framework of the CAMPUS Asia Program, we welcomed the launching of the Trilateral Rectors’ Forum as a networking opportunity and pivotal consultative mechanism to strengthen cooperation among universities of the three countries, and agreed to continuously promote its gathering under various themes, with Korea taking the lead by hosting the first forum in 2016, while further details including the holding time and host universities of the Trilateral Rectors’ Forum will be negotiated by participant universities.
4-1. Reaffirming the importance of education for the sustainable development of humanity and the world, we welcome the adoption of the Aichi-Nagoya Declaration on ESD at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD in November 2014, Education 2030 Framework for Action including the Incheon Declaration at the UNESCO World Education Forum in May 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015.
4-2. Recognizing the essential role of the trilateral education cooperation in advancing the regional and global education, we affirmed our commitment to strengthening multilateral partnership, especially through ASEAN+3, EAS and ASEM.
4-3. We will closely cooperate for the success of the ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting in 2017, which will be held in Korea.
We welcomed the Second Trilateral Education Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Japan in 2017.
大臣官房国際課
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