Achieving universal quality education is a high priority goal throughout the world. Japan has promoted the goals of Education for All (EFA) by 2015 through bilateral cooperation as well as international organizations such as UNESCO and GPE and at multilateral fora such as the G8 Summits and the Tokyo International Conferences on African Development (TICAD). Since international cooperation in education is essential for the realization of human security, Japan in 2010 launched a new (international) education cooperation policy based on the guiding principles of “supporting self-help efforts and sustainable development,” “answering the needs of the marginalized populations” and “respecting cultural diversity and promoting mutual understanding”.

 

Fifteen years have now passed since The Dakar Framework Education for All was adopted in 2000. Some EFA goals, such as increased primary enrollment, have gradually been achieved.  However, major challenges remain: there are still 57.8 million children who are not enrolled in primary school, and there is insufficient learning among those in school.

 

The 12^th JEF, which takes place the deadline year 2015 of EFA, will focus on the extent to which the EFA goals have been achieved and on what is still needed to reach them from the viewpoints of developing countries, civil society, researchers, donors and international organizations. Discussion will also extend international education cooperation beyond 2015, in the light of recent trends and emerging challenges in international education cooperation.

 

 

The Japan Education Forum (JEF) is an annual international forum established in March 2004 through governmental and academic collaboration as part of Japan’s educational cooperation. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity for open and frank exchanges of opinions and ideas by officials in the public sector, practitioners of international development and NGOs, and scholars on ways of promoting self-efforts of developing countries toward sustainable educational development and of effective international cooperation in education. The forum also offers an opportunity to present Japan’s own experiences in educational development and its international cooperation in practice.

Theme: “Education for All: What have been achieved and future challenges beyond 2015; reviewing educational development and educational cooperation”

 Date: Thursday, February 5, 2015

 

 Venue:Plaza Heisei, Tokyo International Exchange Center

(2-2-1 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan)

 

Organized by:

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)

Hiroshima University

University of Tsukuba

 

 Supported by: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

 

       *Languages: English-Japanese simultaneous interpretations