. Features of final report

  The Committee was set up in October 2001 as an advisory group reporting to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The aim is to use the conclusions reached by the previous Committee for International Cooperation in Education, which met from June through November 2000, as a basis for opening up new areas of discussion and deepening our understanding in areas already under discussion.
  More specifically, in Section 1 we examine the Dakar Framework for Action, whose objective is the urgent realization of “Education for All". Next, in Section 2 we focus primarily on the intellectual resources of Japanese universities and the way in which international cooperation in education might best be promoted at the university level.
  The main feature of this final report is that it draws together all the main threads of these discussions and makes radical recommendations for the establishment of a domestic framework within which to seek a qualitative improvement in Japan's cooperation activities.
  The BEGIN: Basic Education for Growth Initiative, which constitutes the conceptual basis for Japanese international cooperation in education as announced by Prime Minister Koizumi at the Kananaskis Summit, reflects the conclusions drawn by this Committee.

1.   Conceptual basis of final report

As was evident in the strength of support for “Education for All“ demonstrated at Genoa last year and again at the Kananaskis Summit, there is a growing worldwide tendency to treat international cooperation in education as a matter of great importance, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels. Taking a lead from this trend, Japan has also shown increasing awareness of the importance of promoting international cooperation in education and of encouraging developing countries to help themselves in this respect.   International cooperation in education is also an area in which Japanese people can participate on various levels, including schools and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Cooperation of this sort is of particular significance in that it not only helps the "domestic internationalization" of Japan itself but also encourages closer relations between the people of developing countries and Japan.   It is important for Japan to utilize its own educational experience, which it gained when it made education the focus of its own nation-building activities in the "spirit of the one hundred sacks of rice", as a means of providing effective help in securing the objective of Education for All by sending out specialists to provide in-service training, for example, and to cooperate in such a way as to demonstrate the sincere "fellow-feeling" of the Japanese people.   Given, moreover, that education is an ongoing undertaking in which every day counts, Japan must demonstrate the practical value of what it has learned to date by playing an active part in nation building following the resolution of disputes in countries such as Afghanistan.   There is also great potential for the universities, the storehouses of Japan's intellectual resources, to contribute more in the coming years to Japan's efforts to cooperate in international development in a variety of fields. To this end, the universities must start to cooperate on an institutional level rather than through individual members of their teaching staff as they have done in the past. High hopes are also being pinned on the universities as strategic research centers for the whole of Japan's official development assistance (ODA) program.

2.   Proposals for the establishment of a domestic framework (creation of intellectual infrastructure)

(1)   "Cooperation base-system" to strengthen cooperation at elementary and middle school levels   -- From an "individual" to an "systematic" response --   In Japan's main areas of cooperation such as elementary and middle school science and mathematics teaching, the establishment of teacher training systems, and school management, all areas in which Japan has an extensive record of cooperation and for which there is a particularly pressing need, it has been suggested that institutions such as universities, NGOs, and the like, led by a number of core universities, should seek to pool their experience within the context of Japan's program of international cooperation in education and set up "cooperation base-system" to develop cooperative models, train in-service teachers, and the like. Another important use for "cooperation base-system" will be to help form groups in areas in which Japan's experience of cooperation remains limited to marshal Japan's educational experience and to seek to expand the provision of information through a process of dialogue in workshops and the like.   This proposal is reflected in the BEGIN: Basic Education for Growth Initiative, which also calls for the "utilization of in-service teachers and the establishment of 'cooperation base-system' to strengthen Japan's overall domestic cooperation system in education". (2)   Support Center to further international development cooperation in universities   -- From cooperation by "individual university staff"to cooperation at the "institutional level" --   It would also help our universities to progress with their practical research and training and, in so doing, to differentiate themselves in terms of their particular areas of expertise, if those with both the urge and the capacity were to enter into agreements with international aid agencies (including both Japanese and multinational aid agencies) to take part in programs of international development cooperation in return for payment and with all the responsibilities that that entailed. To this end, it is further suggested that a Support Center should be established to act as a node and to strengthen Japanese universities' relationships with international aid agencies on the one hand and with associated organizations such as firms of consultants and domestic and foreign universities on the other. As for the formulation of international development cooperation strategies in particular fields, close relationships will also need to be formed with existing centers that have already been set up in national universities in the fields in question. (3)   International Development Strategy Research Center (provisional name)   -- Strengthening of ODA strategy research --   The universities have long been evaluators of the appropriateness of government policy and it is hoped that they will be able to bring this expertise to bear by providing objective research in the government's ODA policies based on their assessment of contemporary domestic and overseas trends. To this end it is suggested that consideration should be given to the establishment of independent International Development Strategy Research Center (provisional name) in Japanese universities to undertake ODA strategy-related research and analysis.   Moreover, in light of the synergies implicit in the combined functioning of the two types of center referred to in Sections 2- (2) and 2- (3) above, careful consideration must also be given to how best to secure a close relationship between the two, including the form in which they are established.   In addition to establishing the framework implicit in Sections 2- (1), 2- (2), and 2- (3) above, to accommodate overall government policy in the shape, for example, of the prioritization of programs of aid for particular countries, and the attribution of strategic goals and priorities to ODA policy, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) will also need to strengthen its organization to improve its ties with other interested ministries and government agencies and to plan and coordinate international development cooperation by institutions such as universities more systematically.

3.   Other areas in which progress has been achieved on the basis of talks held in the current Committee

(1)   International cooperation in education for nation building following the resolution of disputes (Afghanistan) sp;It was suggested during the course of discussions that MEXT should liaise with associated organizations to develop specific policies for international cooperation in education for the reconstruction of countries such as Afghanistan once specific local disputes have been resolved. Based on this suggestion, MEXT has considered and implemented a variety of policies in consultation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, such as, in the case of Afghanistan, inviting the then-Minister of Education Abdul Raoul Amin to visit Japan in April (See Annex 1). (2)   Development of international cooperation in education based on popular participation (coordination with NGOs, local government, etc.)   The progress of educational aid to Afghanistan is considered to have received meaningful support from a broad cross-section of Japan's population through the participation of educators and NGOs, and the interest shown in news reports on the subject by every section of the population. International cooperation in education is an area in which people can see just how effective cooperation of this sort can be and are at the same time keen that such cooperation should reflect the Japanese people's sincere "fellow-feeling".   Based on conclusions drawn by the current Committee, links with institutions such as NGOs and local government education committees were established and task forces within the Committee itself were set up. These led, among other things, to the establishment, of "cooperation base-system" to strengthen cooperation on the elementary and middle school levels and the participation of in-service teachers in international cooperation in education, in cooperation with NGOs and local government bodies. In the Afghan case, progress continues to be made in the establishment of specific links with NGOs, for example, to create a women's university consortium to provide educational support for girls, and to collect educational support donations. (3)   Utilization of Japan's educational experience in tie-ups with international organizations   If Japan's educational experience can be put to good use as a value-added element in fields in which international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have already established track records of cooperation in developing countries, it would make sense for Japan to seek tie-ups with such organizations.   Based on the above, Japan is currently considering how best to cooperate in the field of health education, in which it has little prior experience, by, for example, utilizing its diet-educational experience, including nutritive education. It is also seeking to establish ties with the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNESCO, which already have experience working with developing countries (See Annex 2).