JSPS Core-to-Core Program Seminar #8 on “Education Finance and Administration”

On Tuesday July 12, 2016, the 8th JSPS Core-to-Core Program Seminar was held in the main conference room of Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies (GSICS) at Kobe University. The seminar topic was education finance and administration, with particular focus on early childhood care and education (ECCE) and difficult situations. In this seminar, not only senior researchers but also young researchers shared their research findings. More than fifty researchers and practitioners participated, and very active discussion was held.

Part 1 of the seminar was titled, “Financing for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Asia-Pacific Region”. At first, Dr. Keiichi Ogawa, Professor in Kobe GSICS presented his research findings and recommendations on “Financing for ECCE in Asia Pacific Region: Key Findings of 10 Countries Study”, and Ms. Najung Kim, a GSICS Doctoral Student correspondingly presented her research findings on “Financing for ECCE in Republic of Korea”. Finally, Ms. Huyen T. T. Nguyen, a Doctoral Student in GSICS presented her research findings on “Financing for ECCE in Vietnam”. After the presentations, the following two invited discussants provided their comments and questions namely, Mr. Mohamed Aboubakari, Director in the Ministry of Primary and Kindergarten Education in Benin, and Mr. Mohammed Lamarti Sefian, Chief in Ministry of Education and Professional Training in Morocco.

JSPS Seminar #8 Part 2 of the seminar was titled, “Education Finance for Difficult Situations”. This part embarked with presentation by Dr. Tejendra Pherali, Senior Lecturer in UCL Institute of Education at University College London. Dr. Pherali presented his research on “Challenges and Opportunities for Post-Earthquake Educational Reconstruction in Nepal”. Then, Dr. Jun Kawaguchi, Assistant Professor at University of Tsukuba presented his research on “Comparative Analysis on Inclusive Education and Special Education: Focused on Cost Effectiveness in Developing Countries”. Finally, another doctoral student from GSICS, Ms. Seonkyung Choi presented her research on “Rate of Return to Vocational Education in Philippines”. Followed by the presentations, Dr. Billo Barry, Director in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Guinea, and Ms. Meleia Reed, Principal Accountant in the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture in Samoa, provided comments on the presentations as invited discussants.

At the end of each part of the seminar, the participants were given the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments in order to deepen their knowledge and understanding on education finance and administration to cope with the approaching global challenges. In this seminar, since twenty-five Ministry of Education officers from 17 countries participated, we were able to discuss the importance of evidence-based policy making to improve education in developing countries.

Kobe University’s JSPS Core-to-Core Program (Asia-Africa Science Platforms) has been coordinated by Professor Keiichi Ogawa since April 2014, and one of the objectives of the program is to nurture young researchers at the participating universities in Asia and Africa by conducting joint research with senior researchers.

(Authored by Md. Jahangir Alam, Research Student)