A Study On Japan’s Aid On Basic Education In Africa

In the field of education assistance, international aid agencies and most donor countries have shifted their policy priority towards basic education. In2002, the G8summit hosted in Canada. At the meeting, Japanese government announced a document, which is "Basic education for Growth Initiative"(BEGIN), to determine the basic direction and strategy of the Japanese educational assistance. According to the document, Japan’s education assistant has been based on basic education to promote international cooperation. Japan’s aid philosophy of basic education can be summed up as follows:the development of local education as a priority, to ensure equal educational opportunities to improve the quality of education and improving education management. On the basis of understanding and consideration of the Millennium Development Goals and the Dakar Framework for Action, Japan has been committed to helping developing countries achieve the goals-"achieving universal primary education by2015". In60years of foreign aid process, Japan as a big donor country in Asia has gradually formed a foreign aid system with its own characteristics. Therefore, the study on Japan’s aid on basic education in Africa is an important reference for China to improve the effectiveness of Sino-Africa cooperation in education. This study based on a large number of documents, used statistical analysis, case studies, and other methods to analyze and discuss the development of Japan’s concept of educational assistance; Japan’s education assistance mechanism; Japan’s main measures of assistance on basic education in Africa and the characteristics of Japan’s aid on basic education. The main body of this thesis is divided into five main parts:In the first part, the thesis analyzes and summaries the Japanese concept of education assistance. In this section, explained and summarized Japan’s aid concept in three different historical periods. The second part describes the Japanese educational assistance mechanisms, including the implement agency and assistance operation mechanism. Japan’s project evaluation system plays a crucial role in the operation of the assistance system.The third part through states the main problems in the development of African basic education, summarizes the JICA’s major aid measures developed to address these issues:Construction of the new schools; Establish communities-School Committee; Strengthen math and science education; Send volunteers. With typical cases, this part carried out a detailed analysis of these educational assistance projects.The fourth part discusses the characteristics of Japan’s assistance for basic education in Africa. There are four characteristics in mainly:The use of Japan’s experience in the development of education; Stick to the principle of "self-help" development; Emphasis on math and science education; Based on Project Aid and promote international cooperation.The fifth part by summarizing the situation and problems of China’s basic education assistance in Africa, combined with the advantage of Japan’s aid on basic education, made some suggestions for China on how to strengthen the Sino-Africa cooperation in education.