Project News

Background of the Program

Through "Training in Japan" conducted by the Project in October 2014, two teachers from Subandaku Technical Vocational School (STVS) in Cebu, one of our pilot schools, visited Ichikawa Technical High School (ITHS) in Chiba, Japan. After the visit, the student interaction utilizing Skype started.

In 2015, the 16 students from ITHS visited STVS during their "Philippine-Cebu Training" program. It was the first time they could have a conversation face to face. On January 28, 2015, an article in "Project News" entitled "Subangdaku TVS bridges a Japanese School", described the student interaction.

This Year's Program

STVS welcomed the 17 students from ITHS who participated in "Philippine-Cebu Training" program this year. Prior to the visit, 18 students of STVS and 17 of Ichikawa Technical High School participated in conversations with each other through the web camera on July 12.

On July 26, a Grade 11 female student of STVS acted as the master of ceremonies for the program. The students from both schools made PowerPoint presentations. Then the students of STVS guided their guests around the campus. Upon returning to the main meeting room, the students were divided into groups for group discussion. The discussion was initiated by STVS students. They prepared a set of questions for Japanese students. Questions included, "What is your favorite subject?", "How many lessons do you attend in a day", "What do you think about Cebu?" Due to the time constraint and language barrier, their discussion did not delve into their studies, such as welding, electricity, architecture. However, topics such as "animation" and "online games" reduced the psychological distance between the high school students of two countries.

STVS tries to widen the student opportunities to become competitive in the global arena. The interaction with the Japanese students allowed them to experience how interesting it is to deal with others. By breaking the barriers of language and culture, this experience introduced them to the concept of working with diverse people after graduating High School.

Scene of Group Discussion

Scene of Group Discussion