Background

With the regard to international cooperation in education toward developing countries, particularly in the light of "Education for All (EFA)", the MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) has established the "Cooperation Bases System" to strengthen the implementation of international cooperation in primary and secondary school education, responding to the "the Dakar Framework for Action". It was suggested by the Committee of International Cooperation in Education in its final report, submitted in July, 2002 (*1).

The "Cooperation Bases System" is the Japan's domestic framework constituted of network of various cooperation actors, such as Nat'l, Public and Private Universities, NGOs, Private Sectors, with the leads of twin core institutes, Univ. of Tsukuba and Hiroshima Univ. (*2). For implementation of the System project, close collaboration will be enhanced with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA and JBIC which have played key roles of Japan's cooperation in education.

The idea of "Cooperation Bases System" was also reflected in the BEGIN (Basic Education for Growth Initiative), announced by Prime Minister Koizumi on the occasion of the Kananaskis Summit in July, 2003.

*1: The Committee for International Cooperation in Education was set up in Oct. 2001 as an advisory group for reporting and submitting recommendations to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
*2: Both universities will enhance linkage and cooperation among participants of this system, and play a coordinating role of whole activities.

Objective

By collecting and marshalling Japanese cooperation-related experiences and know-how at home in readiness to respond to requests for cooperation, the "Cooperation Bases System" aims to support cooperation actors and to strengthen educational cooperation of Japan in terms of the quality, quantity, and timing of its cooperative efforts. In so doing, ultimately, it is hoped to enable Japan to provide a suitable and systematic response to requests from developing countries.

Functions and roles

1. "Sharing Cooperation Experience" to reinforce cooperation in the areas of Japanese great strength

   In the areas of which Japan has ample prior cooperation experiences such as "science and mathematics education" and "teacher training" as well as generally applicable areas such as "educational administration" and "school management", the System aims to collect and analyze the records of Japanese cooperative experiences and to use them for developing models of cooperation such as teaching materials and training manuals of teacher training that will be of general use in the field.

2. Support for dispatching in-service teachers to developing countries

   Japanese in-service teachers have a wealth of practical educational experience and skills and are recognized as an important human resource for promoting international cooperation in education, revealing the sincere "fellow-feeling" of the Japanese people.
   The system would support them specifically; (i) by conducting pre-departure training in order to provide cooperation models for in-service teachers with visual impressions of the sort of work in the field; (ii) by arranging consultation for the resolution of problems will be provided through the Internet for teachers who are working in the field; (iii) by enhancing feedback and recycling the experiences gained by in-service teachers in developing countries through the System and add new values to cooperation experiences of Japan.

3. Support to encourage activity in areas in which Japan has little experience of cooperation

   For Japan's less experienced cooperation areas, such as "education for children with disabilities", "health education", "environmental education" and "nursery education", the System will establish field-specific groups or set up a central organization to marshal Japan's educational experience and offer a wider range of information to developing countries. In this initiative, mutual communication with developing countries is very essential; therefore, great emphasize is placed on the dialogue process with those countries.

4. Information transmission of "Cooperation Bases System"

   The outcomes and achievements of the System projects will be gathered and made available on the web-site as references for cooperation actors and users. Also, the information will be widely introduced and shared by developing countries and development assistance organizations through regularly held international symposium (JEF: Japan Education Forum), workshops and so on. By so doing, partnership with developing countries and international cooperation organizations will be promoted.

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Projects for the fiscal year 2004/2005

The precise name of each project will change every fiscal year. But the general topic name appeared on the left image will not change.

I. "Sharing Cooperation Experience" to reinforce cooperation in the areas of Japan's great strength

II. Support for dispatching in-service teachers to developing countries

III. Support to encourage activity in areas in which Japan has little experience of cooperation

IV. Information transmission of "Cooperation Bases System"

Projects of 2003/2004