The cultivation of human resources through school education, vocational training and research development, etc., has become a major pillar of the development support for developing countries.
In the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” is established at the education goal (SDG4). However, education is essential for the attainment of all of the goals.
In order to contribute to the solution of the problems related to educational quality, education-based inequality, youth employment, etc., INTEM Consulting Inc. conducts grant aid projects for the related facilities and equipment related to primary, middle and higher education, and conduct technical knowhow transfers of educational methodology.
As the tuition fee for national universities is free in Egypt, the number of students is increasing, and because the number of students per instructor has grown the decline in the quality of education has become serious. Also, lectures and classroom instruction are centered around theory, and as the number of universities conducting practical/leading edge education are limited a problem has arisen of superior students leaving to study abroad.
In this situation, in 2009 the Japanese and Egyptian governments decided to utilize the special features of Japanese engineering education, and based on the concept of “Small numbers of students, centered around graduate school and research, and practical while providing education meeting international standards”, a bilateral agreement was concluded establishing the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-Just). INTEM was contracted by JICA to conduct grant aid project consulting. The scope of the Japanese side activity was the arrangement of research/practice equipment for the newly established 8 subject Engineering Department. The Egyptian side was responsible for the construction of the campus. As the consulting work we conducted an on site survey (national plan, meeting with the responsible professors, blueprint confirmation, location confirmation, market survey, budget status, etc.). After returning to Japan we put together the project proposal, calculated the project budget, supervised the bidding, contract and purchasing. The final stage consisted of on site installation supervision, which we conducted until the hand over.
This was a long-term project that required us to consider a period spanning 7 years.
Mozambique has abundant natural resources such as coal and natural gas, and while many overseas companies have entered the country increased their investment, there is a drastic shortage or technicians in the industries of construction/civil engineering, welding and steel. In order to cultivate industrial human resources, the Mozambique government is engaged in activities to expand and improve the quality of vocational training. However, because of the shortage of vocational training equipment and the aging of facilities, it is not currently possible to provide adequate training.
In this project, by arranging the equipment and facilities for a vocational training center in each of the following major cities in the northern, central and southern regions, respectively: Nacala City in Nampula Province, Quelimane City, Zambezia Province, and Matolo City, Maputo Province, the plan is to improve the quality of vocational training and contribute to the cultivation of regional industrial human resources. Through the execution of this project, it will be possible to provide high quality vocational training opportunities, and by cultivating human resources that meet the needs of industry, it is expected to assist the promotion of regional industries and contribute to the vitalization of the economy.
In Cambodia, even without graduating from university, by graduating from a “Teacher Training Center”, it is possible to obtain certification as a primary/secondary school teacher. In order to produce high quality teachers, this project will support the building of the foundation of construction of 2 4-year teacher education colleges: in the manner of the Japanese system, in Phnom Penh and Battambang.
In order to move from a 2-year system to a 4-year system, various standards and official documents must be prepared for the operation of the university system. Also, specialized curriculum and syllabuses, and teaching materials, etc., are necessary. On site, the responsibility for the development of the university operation plan and the teacher evaluation guideline etc., will be conducted by the college president and vice president and the college executives, the syllabuses of the various subjects by the university professors, and we will support the above groups through workshops, etc. Also, in terms of Acceptance of Training Participants, guidance will be given in Hiroshima University concerning university operation, and in Nara University regarding syllabus development. Japan’s knowledge concerning the cultivation of educators will be utilized, while aiming to provide guidance concerning educator cultivation and university operation that is suited to Cambodia.
In South Africa, after the abolition of apartheid, the 1994 general election gave birth to the administration of President Mandela, which introduced new policies at a rapid pitch. However, now, 25 years later, especially in the subjects of arithmetic and mathematics, improvement in academic ability has not been achieved.
One source of worry is that when children reach the level of what would be the junior high school rank in Japan, that many can be observed who count their fingers or circles that they have drawn in order to find the answers for math problems. This is because they did not receive proper instruction at the lower grade levels regarding the rank of numbers, addition, which involves the increase of numbers, subtraction, which involves the decrease of numbers, and the multiplication tables. The counterparts: the persons in charge of basic education, have finally begun to have a major interest in mathematics education. However, up till now there hadn’t been any approach demonstrated to the instructors that caused them to clap their hands together and say, ‘That’s it!’. First, we obtained the understanding of the instructors. Then we created a guidance proposal for instructors that included arithmetic study hints to allow children to experience the enjoyment of thinking for themselves, provided technical support for the revision of the curriculum.
In the 1980’s the Senegal government desired to shift from an economy that was dependent on agricultural to an industrial economy, however, domestically there was an extreme shortage of technicians to shoulder the necessary responsibilities of the various industrial fields. At that point, in 1984 the Japanese government established the Vocational and Technical Training Center (CFPT). After that, the CFPT has appropriately captured the needs for industrial human resource development in Senegal, and based on the needs of the era has repeatedly revised its subjects and sent high quality human resources into society.
In recent years, industry has diversified and modernized, and the need for technicians in the private sphere has become even more important. To meet these needs, CFPT has started vocational training directed toward technicians who are currently employed. The purpose of the current survey is to examine whether the equipment requested by the CFPT is really necessary, and, if the requested support is provided, what results can be expected. Planning will be conducted by taking into account the results of the survey.
Up until now, the Japanese government, in preparation for the opening the CFPT, has conducted grant aid 2 times, has dispatched JICA experts, and has held trainings, etc., for CFPT instructors in Japan. Long-term support has been continuously conducted. Since 2003, our company has been the responsible consultant for 3 grant aid projects. We have made aggressive use of the knowledge that we have accumulated since our founding, and through our support of the CFPT have contributed to the cultivation of the industrial human resources of Senegal.
Recently, the Republic of Uganda has achieved stable economic development. However, the majority of its technicians are foreigners, and youth employment is a major issue. Although the outbreak of the civil war interrupted the cooperation efforts, from 1968 on Japan has supported the system improvement of the Nakawa Vocational Training Institute and the cultivation its educators. It has become the top vocational training school in Uganda.
However, accompanying the expansion of the industrial needs of Uganda, while the need for more advanced technical levels has increased, the theoretical bias in the technical education and the resulting lack of practical ability has been pointed out. Our company, in addition to conducting project management, is supporting strengthening of the human resource cultivation function to respond to such needs of the industrial sector. Concretely, we are giving advice and providing technical knowledge transfer to the principal and vice principal of the Nakawa Vocational Training Institute, supporting the establishment of a junior college, and utilizing connections with the industrial sector to develop a practical training course. Also, using the institute as a base, we are aiming to improve the vocational training of Uganda overall.
In Uganda’s industrial sector, female technicians are still a distinct minority. However, through the project, we are very happy that we could offer the opportunity for as many women as possible to receive training as vocational education trainers. This is also a strong source of motivation for us.
During the conflict reconstruction period after the 1980s, the Kingdom of Cambodia established a two-year teacher training curriculum to cope with a significant teacher shortage. However, ensuring the quality of teachers was still an issue, so the Cambodian government established a four-year teacher training college with the goal of fostering higher quality teachers.
As part of the support for building the foundation for the college, this project aimed to develop a teacher training college management and subject guidance system suitable for Cambodia while utilizing the knowledge of teacher training in Japan, and carried out the following activities: formulation of a strategic plan for the government to convert the college into a university, formulation and maintenance of various guidelines and official documents for managing the university organization, development of a specialized curriculum and syllabus for four years, expert advice on academic research, and support for implementation and management of the curriculum throughout the year. The project also provided professional advice on academic research and support for the implementation and operation of curricula throughout the year, etc.
Throughout the six-year project period, many results were achieved, including the establishment of a university operation and management system, the development of a class laboratory system, and research presentations at international conferences by university faculty members. The project was also implemented from a professional standpoint with the cooperation of professors from Hiroshima University and Nara University of Education.
This project involves the construction of four new junior high schools in Zambezia, where there is a large shortage of junior high schools. We provided laboratory equipment for the science labs and desktop computers for the PC rooms.
In Zambezia, the development of facilities has not been able to keep pace with the rapid increase in the number of students enrolling in secondary education along with the spread of primary education, forcing the conversion or borrowing of elementary school facilities and the operation of classes on a three-shift system. In addition, many children are unable to attend school due to the distance to junior high schools.
In addition, this project is a model for future junior high school construction, with the installation of crosswalks and other facilities that take into account the needs of students with disabilities, and restrooms that are easy for female students to use. This project will contribute to promoting gender equality and the participation of vulnerable children in education.
This project will provide engineering education and training equipment to the electrical, electronics, mechanical, and computer departments (including distance learning equipment) of three technical colleges in Dhaka (Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, Dhaka Mohila Polytechnic Institute, and Technical Techers Training College).
Bangladesh is facing a qualitative and quantitative gap in its workforce due to the limited number of institutions producing intermediate and advanced level engineers that meet the needs of the increasingly sophisticated and diversified business activities of the private sector.
In order to realize the Bangladesh Ministry of Education’s goals of producing skilled workers to support economic growth, diversifying the content of technical education, modernizing educational institutions, and further collaborating with the private sector, through the project cooperation, the project aims to contribute to the economic growth of Bangladesh by improving technical education and creating an environment for human resource development at technical colleges.
In the countries of the Sahel region of Africa, weak governance and resulting development delays have had a significant impact on overall regional instability. In recent years, these countries have also faced a significant deterioration in security due to the growth of extremist groups.
This study targeted young people, vulnerable groups, and women in five Sahelian countries (Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and Mali) to gather information on initiatives that can be effectively used to build peace in the region. In addition, five pilot projects were implemented that contribute to technical and vocational training to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable groups, including migrants and internally displaced persons, and to the deterrence of violent extremism, and their effectiveness and implementation systems were verified for future project development.
In the final phase of the study, an intra-regional experience-sharing workshop was held in a hybrid face-to-face and online format to share the results of the pilot projects with local stakeholders and to identify effective measures in the Sahel region.
The Tanzanian government has set a goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2025, and its main policy is to promote industrialization through human resource development. However, the unemployment rate is high at 9.7%, and the rate is even higher among the younger generation.
In this study, we collected and analyzed information on the gap between industry needs and training content in the fields of electrical equipment, automobile maintenance, and food processing at public vocational training schools, and identified issues. The study then conducted a pilot project to resolve these issues, and examined support measures that JICA should provide in the future.
The pilot project focused on the maintenance of electric vehicles, and included training in soft skills (5S and problem-solving techniques), work attitudes, and career development, as well as the acquisition of the latest technology required to develop human resources that meet corporate needs. Through such verification in collaboration with the private sector, it was proven that combining these training menus can quickly develop human resources with the ability to work immediately, and our proposal is currently under consideration as a framework for JICA’s technical cooperation.
■The Project for the Improvement of E-Learning Equipment in the Palestinian Authority
■The Project for Promoting the Production of Digitalized Educational Materials in the Republic of El Salvador
The global outbreak of the new coronavirus has made it difficult to conduct face-to-face classes, increasing the need for online distance education as a tool for continuing education. In Palestine and El Salvador, students still have difficulty accessing face-to-face classes due to their local circumstances.
In this study, we examined whether grant aid to Palestine and El Salvador for the production of distance education materials and the provision of audiovisual equipment would contribute to the promotion of distance education for children and the promotion of learning and understanding, and developed a cooperation plan to achieve this effect.
The “Project for the Improvement of E-Learning Equipment in the Palestinian Authority” aims to improve the learning environment of primary education and contribute to the stability and improvement of civilian life based on human security by equipping Palestinian educational TV station studios with filming equipment and equipping West Bank schools with audio-visual and ICT equipment.
The “Project for Promoting the Production of Digitalized Educational Materials in the Republic of El Salvador” aims to develop high-quality educational materials for students and contribute to the promotion of students’ understanding of their studies by providing equipment for filming and editing at three national teacher training centers and teacher training centers across the country, producing educational content, and collecting video materials from various regions in the country.
