Education

The objectives of JICA's work in the education field in meeting MDG goals.

• JICA's Operation in Education Sector -Present and Future- (English) (PDF/351KB)
• Opérations de la JICA dans le secteur éducatif - Aujourd'hui et l'avenir - (French) (PDF/417KB)
• La Cooperación de la JICA en el Sector Educatión - El presente y el futuro - (Spanish) (PDF/2.98MB)

Basic education refers to preschool education, primary and secondary education, and non-formal education such as adult literacy and community education aimed at ensuring people gain the minimum required knowledge and skills to live. Education is not only a fundamental right; it is also the foundation for building a peaceful and stable world and advancing economic growth and science and technology.

JICA supports basic education based on the following three concepts in line with EFA and the Dakar Framework for Action: (1) Increase access to primary and secondary education; (2) Improve quality of primary and secondary education; and (3) Improve education administration and school management.

Increase Access to Primary and Secondary Education

JICA assists in expanding school education services through the construction of schools using Grant Aid. JICA also helps to establish school management systems involving members of the community and aims to raise school enrollment rates by enhancing awareness of the need for education among parents and the wider community.

Improve Quality of Primary and Secondary Education

Quality education is critical for children to learn reading, writing and problem-solving skills. Easy-to-understand and interesting lessons greatly increase motivation to attend primary and secondary school as well as prevent school dropout and repetition of the same grade. In developing countries, it is common to find teachers doing all the talking and students merely listening.

To improve this situation, JICA is working to promote learner-centered teaching methods that stimulate students' interest and understanding, improve the teacher-training curriculum, and develop and disseminate textbooks and teaching materials. JICA is also committed to strengthening mathematics and science education, which are particularly valuable for social life and important to advance science and technology.

Improve Education Management

To increase access to primary and secondary education and improve the quality of education, it is essential to have adequate school management capacity in terms of administration and operation. This includes identifying children who don't attend school and encouraging them to go, deploying teachers, distributing materials, planning and implementing educational activities, and appropriately allocating budgets.

JICA helps strengthen management capacity so that administrations and schools can assess issues and then formulate and execute school action plans in line with needs. JICA also strives to correct gender disparities in education by developing activities and systems to promote women's education and encouraging literacy programs for adult women. Elsewhere, JICA works to enhance non-formal education in collaboration with volunteers and NGOs for children who cannot attend school and people who are unable to read and write.

JICA aims to improve education and training to meet the changing needs of industry. Support is provided via two key approaches. The first is "Industrial Human Resource Development" by improving the system of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and enhancing the education of leading polytechnics and vocational training schools (curriculum, management system, etc.). The second is "Expansion of Opportunities for Improving Livelihoods" aimed at raising incomes and reducing poverty.

In nations with relatively smooth economic development, such as in the Middle East and South Asia, demand is high for the education of technicians who contribute to the needs of industry. JICA is presently undertaking the training of trainers (TOT) both in vocational training institutions and technical colleges, the revision of curricula with the involvement of relevant agencies and the development of training and education systems in collaboration with industry and governments. Elsewhere, in post-conflict countries and poverty-stricken countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, JICA carries out training aimed at the practical acquisition of basic skills, with the goal of fostering those human resources who are capable of building and running informal-sector small businesses that serve as the real backbone of the economy. In post-conflict countries, JICA conducts vocational training for demobilized ex-combatants in order to cultivate the skills required for restoration and to facilitate integration back into society.

Putting the knowledge and experience accumulated from past cooperation in such countries and regions as Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Senegal and Uganda in Africa into use toward cooperation with other nations in need (South-South cooperation) is a feature of JICA in this field.

JICA's support efforts primarily aim to boost capacity at universities in various regions and countries. This includes raising faculties' skills, expanding campuses and increasing educational and research materials and equipment. More recently, the target areas of cooperation have been extended to higher education administration and improvement in university management capacity. JICA is also working to strengthen collaboration between industry and universities as well as between local government and universities, including those within developing countries and Japan. A feature of JICA's efforts is the creation of academic exchange networks between Japan and developing countries as well as between and within developing countries that draw on assistance from Japanese universities. This also contributes to the internationalization of Japanese institutions and continuation of inter-university collaborative alliances.

As an example of network-type cooperation, the Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network Project connecting 19 engineering institutions in the ASEAN region and 11 supporting universities in Japan was started in 2003 and is now in its second phase.

Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) was opened in 2010. The facility, which adopts a Japanese-style educational and research system based on cooperation with 12 universities in Japan, develops human resources capable of leading the next generation.