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Delegation from Office of the Basic Education Commission, Ministry of Education, Thailand, makes a courtesy call on President

On January 18, 2016, a delegation from the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), Ministry of Education, Thailand made a courtesy call on President Hisataka Moriwaki.
Members of the delegation were:
Mr. Payom Chinnawong, Deputy Secretary-General of the Basic Education Commission
Mr. Amnat Wichayanuwat, Director of Bureau of Special Education
Mr. Passakom Pongsitdhakom, Director of Supervisor Development Center
Mr. Sujin Sawangsri, Director of Lopburi Panyanukul School
Mrs. Yupha Iemsanguan, Foreign Relations Office of Policy and Planning Bureau

In their meeting with the President, Dr. Fumiaki Suzuki, Executive Director for International Affairs and Public Relations, Dr. Satoshi Ema, Executive Director for Academic and Affiliated School Affairs, Dr. Shinya Oba of the Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences and Ms. Chanida Eksapang were in attendance. Ms. Eksapang is a government scholarship student from Thailand who is currently studying at the Faculty of Education of Gifu University. Dr. Yoshinori Furuta, President of Chubu Gakuin University was also invited to the meeting.

Gifu University and the Ministry of Education of Thailand has long been collaborating with each another in the field of special needs education and such long-term relationship culminated in the signing of the Framework of Agreement between OBEC and Gifu University in March 2015.

In the meeting with the President, Mr. Payom said that the delegation would like to observe special needs education and support programs in Japan because participation of people with special needs in society is much more active in Japan than in Thailand. Among others, the delegation expressed great interest in the programs implemented at Gifu University to promote employment of people with special needs at farming fields and teacher's training courses for special needs education offered to the students of the Faculty of Education.

In 2017, the Ministry of Education of Thailand is scheduled to host an international seminar for special needs education, and the participants of the meeting agreed that Gifu University and Chubu Gakuin University would join hands to offer support to this seminar.

After the meeting with the President, the delegation visited the Faculty of Education and attended a meeting with the teachers specializing in special needs education. First, Professor Naotake Iketani, Dean of the Faculty presented an overview and introduced curriculum of the Faculty to the delegation, which was followed by lively question and answer session among the participants.

On January 19, the delegation moved to Tokyo and visited the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). They held a meeting with Mr. Yoshinori Hakui, Deputy Director-General, Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau, and Mr. Keiji Inoue, Director, Special Needs Education Division. They talked about a planned autism education research institute (tentative) in Thailand and future personnel exchange.
On January 20, the delegation visited the Special Needs Education School for Children with Autism, University of Tsukuba, and the National Institute of Special Needs Education in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The delegates exchanged opinions with the officials at these institutions concerning acceptance and sending of teaching staff. Mr. Masaki Yokoyama, Executive Director for General Affairs and Finance and Dr. Oba accompanied the delegation to Tokyo and joined these series of meetings. All of these talks and discussions gave the participants a lot of insights into the issues of special needs education.

Meeting with the President
Group Photo
Meeting at the Faculty of Education
Visit to MEXT(left: Mr. Hakui, right: Mr. Payom)

2016.02.19

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