Messages to Potential Students:
When I realized that working to improve the educational situation in developing countries would be the central focus of my life, I decided to proceed to the degree of Master in the field of educational development. In this field, I think it requires having three key areas of competence. First, understanding the real educational situation in developing countries. Second, understanding how international organizations’, bilateral organizations’, NGOs’, and governments’ works are actually put into practice. Third, having the knowledge and skills to approach education issues in developing countries by providing effective education policy in a challenging environment. From this point of view, Ogawa-seminar is the perfect fit for me. Since I started to learn under Professor Ogawa, I gained very rich opportunities, which offered me experiences in those three key areas through presenting at international conferences, conducting internships, participating in a field study, attending a career seminar by practitioners from international organizations, contributing to training for the officer from Ministry of Education in developing countries, and so on. Furthermore, I conducted an internship at the Ministry of Education and Sports in Lao PDR and worked on a higher education project called “Strengthening Higher Education Project in Lao PDR” funded by the Asian Development Bank. Through these experiences, I could get to know how the international organization works in reality and how the government tries to approach its educational problem. In addition, I was lucky enough to contribute to creating their midterm review report by analyzing the outcome of their project with an economic approach such as the internal rate of return to education that I have learned through this seminar. This is just one example, but I can say that you will gain extraordinary experiences if you want. In a word, the Ogawa seminar is “Karate Kid with Kung Fu Panda Philosophy”. You will know what I mean when you become a part of our seminar! Our stage is the world, see you in the big wide world!
