On October 27, 2019, Assistant Professor Ryo Hotta (Health Administration Center), Lecturer Chihiro Kawakami (Medical Education Development Center) and Assistant Professor Ryotaro Koguchi (Support Office for Student with Disabilities) jointly hosted the symposium; "Specialist Training Faculty's Support for Students with Developmental Disabilities" as a part of Gifu University's 70th anniversary events.

Similar symposiums were held every year since 2017 whose primary focuses were building partnership between Gifu University and local communities. The organizers of the third symposium on October 27 set their sights on support for students with developmental disabilities studying at specialist training faculties (faculties of medicine, education, etc.)

A total of 62 people attended from Gifu University as well as from the fields of education, government administration and welfare.

At the outset of the symposium, Mr. Shinichiro Ogoshi, Director of the Support Students with Disabilities, Student Services Department, Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) spoke about JASSO's programs to support students with disabilities and their future initiatives.

The symposium was made of two sessions. In the first session, the following guest speakers made their presentations on "Support from School Admission to Pre-Training"

- Specially Appointed Associate Professor Koju Funakoshi (Higher Education Accessibility Platform, the Disability Support Office of the Kyoto University General Student Support Center)

- Professor Hitoshi Matsumura (Early Childhood Care and Education, Ogaki Women's College)

- Mr. Masanori Inaba, (lecturer, Gifu University of Health Science)

In the second session, Professor Kazuo Yasuda from the Faulty of Education, Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University joined the discussions with Associate Professor Funakoshi, Ms. Kawakami and Mr. Inaba under the theme of "support for practical training."

After the presentations in the first and second sessions, the participants were divided into small groups with 4 - 6 people and discussed how to address challenges in supporting students with developmental disabilities. They later engaged in active discussions and opinion-exchange in Question and Answer session.

Support activities for students with disabilities have been promoted across the country after the implementation of the government's Act for Eliminating Discrimination Against People with Disabilities in April 2016. However, focusing on support for students studying at specialist training faculties has rarely been tried in Japan. Gifu University will continue to facilitate and develop student support projects/programs for the benefits of those who wish to pursue professional careers in the future.