The 3rd Japan Training

The school health training in Japan was held from September 8 to 15, 2024. A total of 14 participants came to Japan from Cambodia, including Director H.E. Dr. Chea Ratha and Deputy Director Dr. Huot Sinourn of Battambang Teacher Education College (BTEC), 9 lecturers from Phnom Penh Teacher Education College (PTEC) and BTEC, and 3 project staff from the Cambodia Office.

Currently, this project is preparing a school health textbook for the establishment of the school health course of lower secondary schools at teacher education colleges in Cambodia. In addition, a one-credit health education class for student teachers not enrolled in the school health course is also planned to be established. For this reason, the program of the Japan training consisted mainly of observation tours of Japanese lower secondary schools and lectures on the textbooks for the lower secondary school health course.

At the opening ceremony of the training, Director Dr. Mitsuru Kokubu of Tokyo Gakugei University (TGU) gave a welcome speech, and H.E. Dr. Chea Ratha gave an address. Project leader, Professor Dr. Takashi Asakura, gave a lecture on the purpose of the training and the current situation of schools in Japan.

The participants visited TGU Koganei Elementary School, TGU International Secondary School, Machida Municipal Minami Junior High School, and Zama Municipal Sagami Junior High School. We were impressed by the heartwarming welcome we received at each school, including a welcome board in Khmer and time to interact with junior high school students.
At each school, we observed health classes by physical education teachers, health guidance by a yogo teacher and a student yogo teacher, and visits to the health rooms. During the health room tours, we were impressed to hear from yogo teachers that they are working as a team with other teachers and specialists to address the mental health and other health issues that Japanese students are facing.

On the other days, Associate Professor Dr. Megumi Kagotani of Kyorin University gave a lecture on pediatric health, and Professor Dr. Chikage Saito of Saitama University gave a lecture on the history and changing roles of health rooms in Japan.

Both at the school visits and in the lectures, active question-and-answer sessions were held, focusing on the content in line with each participant’s training objectives that had been set in advance.

On the 12th, we made a courtesy visit to the Nippon Foundation, which funds this project. Mr. Yuji Mori, Executive Director of The Nippon Foundation, gave a welcoming speech.

At the closing ceremony, each lecturer gave a presentation on the results of the training and issues to be addressed, and participants actively expressed their desire to apply what they learned in Japan in a way that is appropriate for school health in Cambodia.

This was the third training program in Japan, and some of the participants were visiting Japan for the first time, while others were coming to Japan for some time for other programs. Despite the busy schedule, everyone managed to stay in good health until the end of the program! We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the schools we visited and everyone who supported the Japan Training Program.