Japanese Govt to Enhance Cooperation for African Countries to Help Them Introduce Japanese School Education System

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, August 18, 2025

The government plans to enhance cooperation with African countries to help them introduce the Japanese educational system so that they can improve school education, especially in science fields such as the natural sciences and mathematics.

The government aims for African countries to adopt Japanese-style school practices such as classroom discussions, cleaning school buildings and the “nitchoku” rotation of students who perform class duties.

In preparation for the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) to be held in Yokohama from Wednesday to Friday, the government has already signed a memorandum with Ghana and plans to do so with Egypt.

Japan’s school education system is characterized by factors such as having students learn discipline and cooperative attitudes through special activities in school events, in addition to normal classes.

In Egypt, the Japanese system has been partially introduced and the Japanese government aims to proliferate it further.

The memorandum documents with the two countries include cooperation measures such as vocational education and training in agricultural and engineering fields, assistance for entrepreneurship using digital technologies and special support education for disabled students.

The government plans to hold exchange gatherings and lecture meetings for schoolteachers of the countries.

The government also plans for collaboration among science and technology universities of Japan and African countries so that exchanges of human resources engaging in high-level studies will be further promoted.

While China and Russia are increasing their presence in Africa, the Japanese government aims to contribute to fostering human resources who will lead the economic growth of African countries through this cooperation in the field of education.

By doing so, the Japanese government aims to deepen ties with emerging and developing countries that are collectively dubbed the Global South.