What the Japanese Education System Has Brought to Egypt

What the Japanese Education System Has Brought to Egypt

Interview with Faiza Abulnaga, Egyptian Presidential Aide

The Egypt-Japan Education Partnership (EJEP) is a cooperative project to introduce Japanese educational programs into a wide range of educational stages in Egypt, from early childhood education to basic education, technical education, and higher education, in order to strengthen the capabilities of Egypt’s younger generation. Currently, two major projects are underway under this EJEP: the introduction of “special activities” (tokubetsu katsudo) to the Egypt-Japan School (EJS) and the establishment and strengthening of the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST). JICA Executive Director Sachiko Imoto discussed these initiatives with President Fayza Aboulnaga, Assistant to Egyptian President El-Sisi for Security Affairs, EJEP Coordinator, and Chair of the E-JUST Board of Directors.

*The Egypt-Japan Education Partnership (EJEP) was signed in February 2016. Currently, approximately 20,000 students in Egypt are receiving Japanese-style education in pre-school, primary, and secondary education, and approximately 3,500 students in higher education.

Why did you decide to introduce Japanese education to Egypt? ● Assistant to the President Faiza Abulnaga:

It all started in 2002, when I visited Japan as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and I saw children as young as 4 or 5 years old going to school alone, and people strictly following traffic signals to let them cross the street safely. This was a sight I had never seen before in Egypt. This led me to believe that there was a code of conduct common to all Japanese, and that it was based on the Japanese educational system. When I visited Japan again with my husband, who was the Egyptian Ambassador to Japan at the time, we toured all types of schools in Japan, from early childhood education to higher education and technical and vocational training institutions, to learn more about the Japanese educational system.

We spent a particularly long time visiting kindergartens and elementary schools, the most critical periods in their education. We focused on how teachers treat children, how they interact with boys and girls, and how they teach respect for others and critical thinking. I was surprised to see children, teachers, and the principal cleaning the classrooms themselves, a scene unique to Japan. I was also impressed by the large windows in the classrooms so that the children could freely look outside, and the attention to hygiene by washing hands before school lunch.

Sachiko Imoto, Director:

You have captured the core of Japanese education very well. While acquiring basic knowledge is very important in Japanese education, the importance of education lies not only in that, but also in learning social responsibility and how to contribute to society. And to learn, it is essential to be sound both physically and mentally. Through the school activities you have just described, the school becomes a microcosm of society, where children learn how to care for one another and how they can contribute. This is the concept of Japanese school education.

How did EJEP get started? ● Assistant to the President Abulnaga:

In 2014, I was honored to be appointed by President El-Sisi Egypt as his Assistant to the President for Security Affairs. Then in 2016, at one of the meetings before President El-Sisi’s visit to Japan, I told the President about what I had seen in Japan. In response to my talk, the President, who considers education a top priority, said he would love to visit a Japanese school during his visit to Japan. The school visit that was realized was originally scheduled to last about one hour, but in fact the President stayed for almost three hours and was interested in all aspects of education. It was during this visit that President El-Sisi and then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the EJEP agreement.

Director Imoto:

Earlier, you mentioned a cleanup activity that I am sure the President has seen. By cleaning up their own classrooms, Japanese children show respect for others who use those classrooms. They also learn to serve their fellow students by distributing school lunches on a duty basis. Through all of these “special activities,” children learn to value themselves, listen to others, discuss, and have their own opinions as members of the community.

●Aide to President Abulnaga:

I grew up in a school with a similar system and philosophy in the town of Portside, but the situation today is much different than it was then. After the signing of EJEP, we decided that we needed to better understand the concept of “Tokkatsu,” so we went back to Japan with the then Minister of Education and a delegation of executives (one of whom is now the Minister). (One of those executives is now a minister). At that time, we all had a session to understand “Tokkatsu” and explained why Egypt was interested in the concept and the system. President El-Sisi then agreed to launch 100 new Egyptian Japanese Schools (EJS) based on Japanese specifications and building standards, renovate 100 existing schools, and introduce “Tokkatsu” in all of them with the help of Japanese experts. It is important to emphasize that the President met with the experts on two subsequent occasions to personally ensure that all the conditions necessary for the project’s success were met. Currently, “special activities” are being implemented in both EJS and existing schools, and a comparison of children in schools that have introduced “special activities” with those in schools that have not, shows a clear difference in behavior. The number of existing schools currently implementing EJS and “special activities” continues to grow throughout the country, from small villages to large cities, covering the disadvantaged to the middle class.

Director Imoto:

Introducing new initiatives in the field of education from abroad is always a challenge. That is why we are happy to see the concept of “Tokkatsu” and the unique elements of Japanese education being successfully introduced to Egypt. When I visited EJS in Egypt, I was surprised to see lively discussions in the classrooms and parents visiting online. It was very interesting to see how the Egyptians had devised the Japanese “Tokkatsu” system to fit the Egyptian content while exchanging ideas with Japanese experts.

●Aide to President Abulnaga:

When some EJS parents learned that their children were cleaning school classrooms, they complained that they were not sending their children to school to clean. However, after meeting with the parents and explaining the concept of “special activities,” they began to understand and cooperate. In fact, we heard that the children’s behavior had changed. Some examples include helping their mothers clean the house at home and giving up their seats to elderly people on the bus. These are changes that came about because we took the Japanese education system and introduced it to Egypt. Proper education is necessary for a successful nation and for building a productive and progressive society.

Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) was established from scratch. How was it established and what factors contributed to its success? Presidential Advisor to President Abulnaga:

In 2002, during an official visit to Tokyo as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, I proposed to then Prime Minister Koizumi the idea of establishing the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST) as a center of excellence in science and technology between Egypt and Japan, as a university that would contribute to growth in the Arab and African region. After a year and a half of preliminary discussions and six years of negotiations, a final agreement to establish E-JUST was reached in 2009. Since there was no precedent for Japan, the Japanese side was initially reluctant to do so in order to avoid the risk of failure. This situation was broken by then JICA President Sadako Ogata. When she visited Egypt in 2006 and met with the Prime Minister, she immediately recognized the importance of the establishment of a new university focusing on advanced scientific research and innovation as a cornerstone for industrial development in Egypt and the Arab-African region, and the importance of a joint establishment between Japan and Egypt.

Director Imoto:

Normally, most of JICA’s cooperation in higher education involves strengthening the capacity of existing universities. E-JUST, however, had to start from scratch and build everything up from the ground up. Japan was initially skeptical of the plan, as it was difficult to guarantee continued significant involvement over the long term. But Ogata-san was not afraid to take risks if he thought it was the right thing to do.

●Aide to President Abulnaga:

I am very grateful to Sadako Ogata for her strong support of the E-JUST project. It was her strong belief, support and encouragement that made E-JUST possible, and I remember the sight of her standing in the middle of the desert when the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the E-JUST campus took place. At that time there was nothing there, but now it has a wonderful main campus and a second campus, with state-of-the-art laboratories and a modern library. Thanks to the close cooperation between Japanese and Egyptian officials, E-JUST has been a great success and has become a model of cooperation between the two countries. With the will of Egypt and Japan, we can walk on the path that leads to success.

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