Dr. Prashant Singh and Dr. Avnish Jolly,Tokyo, 1st December, 2008 :The 15 member delegation of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports(MOYAS), Govt. of India has been actively undergoing training under the programme titled “Youth Leaders-2008” at Tokyo International Centre, Tokyo .
This training programme is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a part of Japan ’s official Development Assistance (ODA). The technical assistance to this programme is being provided through Japan International Cooperation Centre (JICE) and Aizuwakamatsu International Centre, Aizuwakamatsu.
Under this programme 15 youth leaders working in different states of India were nominated by various Govt., youth and related organizations and educational institutions who have contributed significantly for the welfare, upliftment and cause of youth. These nominations were scrutinized by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India and were recommended to JICA, Japan through Department of Economic affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. After final selections by JICA, Japan all the participants were invited by JICA, India through MOYAS, GOI at Delhi with proper coordination and orientation programme regarding language and culture of Japan of 2 days during 24th and 25th of November 2008 at Delhi . The 15 member delegation of Youth Leaders reached NARITA International Airport , Tokyo , Japan on 26th November 2008.
During the first day of training on 27th November 2008, the briefing about the programme along with detailed orientation about the outline of the technical contents of the training were highlighted by the two training coordinators namely Ms. Keiko Takarai and Kenji Aoki of JICE.
On 28th November 2008 i.e. day of the programme, the first lecture was delivered by Prof Ryokichi Hicoroo, Professor Emeritus, Seiki University , Tokyo on the topic, “ Japan under Globalization”. In his presentation he outlined various factors of Japan ’s rise to a global economic power along with major factors responsible for rapid growth restructuring and trade expansion. He concluded his talk with QUO VADIS in the 21st century with suggestions to improve quality and quantity of higher educational institutions in India on the basis of experiences of Japan .
In the afternoon session, Prof Yokoyama , Professor Emeritus of University of Tokyo in his comprehensive lecture entitled “Society and People of Japan” covered various relevant topics like behaviour, lifestyle of Japanese culture and origin of Japanese religion. He categorically cited different examples to make his view point clear. Prof Yokoyama also quoted a variety of words which are used by Japanese and have specific meaning in daily life. Both the speakers also gave satisfactory answers to various queries of participating trainees.
On the third day of the training, the training coordinator from Aizuwakamatsu International Centre Ms. Jiali Ma joined the group and briefed the trainees about the schedule of Aizuwakamatsu to be commenced from 2nd December 2008.
The forenoon lecture was delivered by Shimizu Toshiharu, a senior administrator from Tokyo Education Bureau’s Regional Educational Support Section. He with his presentation, movie show and discussion clearly presented the overview of educational administration of Japan emphasizing in 2 broad categories of school education and social education. Mr. Shimizu gave general examples of social environmental changes faced by youth starting from Golden Egg era to present era of youth not currently engaged in employment , education or training. Citing various related problems of youth he stressed on some useful solutions like societal exposure and interaction with formal education and moving towards outreach, coordination and networking from established institutions.
In the afternoon on 29th November 2008, the delegation under the supervision of 3 training coordinators visited National Science Museum and Imperial Palace of Tokyo. The trainees explored various Science and technology related working models and sequential developments of IT, robot, motor and space technologies. This knowledge gained and visit to imperial palace has helped participants greatly in developing understanding about Japan as developed and highly cultured country.
On Monday, 1.12.087 the group visited National Youth Center , Japan at Tokyo where a half day seminar was held in which Director, Operation and Programme Addressed the group besides presentation by Research and Training wings of the Center. The participants were exposed to different facilities of the center and were explained almost every activity in premises. In the after noon, the trainees were taken to Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, where they were given literature about the working and structure of Police in Japan . After a movie show about activities, they were taken to the Central Communication Control Room and Police Museum . The participants showed sincere interest in knowing the functioning of law and enforcement agencies of Japan and various queries of the participants were also answered by the experts of the Police department.
This Young group leaders group is moving to Aizuwakamatsu International Centre on 2.12.08. These participants will undergo further training and exposure about various youth related activities and will visit a number of places at Aizuwakamatsu. After submission of action plan up to 12.12.08, the group will return on 13.12.08 to India .
Under this training programme Dr. Prashant Singh from DAV PG College, Dehradun Uttarakhand, Mr. P.K. Sabale from Mumbai, Ms. Nanda M. Raut from Mumbai, Ms. Harita Mehta from Gujarat, Mr. Gitartha Baruah from Guwahati, Ms. Tajamul Taju from Leh, Mr. Amardeep Singh from Punjab , Mr. D. K. Subbaiah from Arunanchal Pradesh, Mr. P.K. Sain from Arunanchal Pradesh, Rs. Nita Manohar Pednekar from Panaji , Mr. Y.A. Parab from Panaji, Dr. Rupinder Bir Kaur from Chandigarh, Vijay Kumar from Chandigarh, Mr. L. K Singh from Manipur and Dr. Avnish Jolly from Haryana are taking active part.
It is hoped that the action plan submitted to JICA and experience gained with the visit of Young Leaders from different states of the India to Japan will be greatly beneficial in developing and implementing various young children and youth related programmes and activities.