The Skills Imperative 2035 is a five-year strategic research programme, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which is investigating future skills needs, skills supply and skill development, with a particular focus on the 'Essential Employment Skills' (EES) that are projected to be most vital across the labour market in 2035. The focus in this stage…

This chapter focuses on the Government of Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in developing countries. We focus specifically on the assistance provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), as the organization mainly responsible for technical cooperation for TVET.…

This chapter investigates the features and historical trends of Japan's educational cooperation for developing higher education institutions. From the early years of its Official Development Assistance (ODA), higher education cooperation assistance for developing universities has been one of the pillars of Japan's ODA. Japan has supported more…

This chapter provides a crosscutting, comprehensive analysis of the factors defining Japan's international cooperation in education over its 65-year history. These factors are examined from seven perspectives: (1) engagement and collaboration with the international community; (2) influence of Japan's own historical experience; (3) structure and…

There is growing recognition that study abroad is seen as a resource for shaping neoliberal subjects who possess the skills to join a mobile, globalised workforce. While existing research has explored the advantages study abroad offers sojourners in their careers, less attention has been accorded to how individuals experience return contexts in…

This chapter discusses Japan's ODA scholarship program for foreign students. The program is broadly divided into the Japanese Government Scholarship Program and the JICA Scholarship Program. Although the Japanese Government Scholarship Program was the main scholarship program between the 1950s and the 1980s, it diversified with the start of the…

Every child has the right to learn. Yet for far too many, that right remains unfulfilled. Poverty, environmental shocks, conflict, displacement, disability and discrimination continue to keep children out of school or stuck in classrooms without meaningful learning, or disrupt learning altogether. This is especially true for girls and other…

The purpose of the study is to understand how Japanese women become social entrepreneurs. The challenges in fostering women's entrepreneurship include socio-cultural traditional views on women's roles and expectations and insufficient support systems. Despite such challenges, the rise of Japanese women as social entrepreneurs has been observed in…

From 1977 to 2015, the Government of Japan provided Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans to the education and human resource development sector totaling US$5.6 billion (600 billion Japanese Yen). This was disbursed in the funding of 88 projects, mainly targeting the Asian region. ODA loans constitute one of Japan's major bilateral ODA…

This thematic report is the culmination of the OECD's first comparative education policy focus on physical and health education in school systems around the world. Conducted under the auspices of the OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 project as part of the International Curriculum Analysis, this report presents new insights into the…

The first years of life lay the foundations for a child's future development and learning. Many countries have increased their financial support for provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past years. More recently, the focus of debate has been shifting from expanding access to affordable ECEC to enhancing its quality. A…

This issue of "Mapping Community Colleges Around the World: Comparative Perspectives and Collaborative Pathways" takes a deep dive into curriculum and student learning, highlighting the skills employers need to meet the demands of today's global economy, and examples of how colleges are ensuring their graduates enter the workforce…

The shortage of qualified human capital is a major impediment to development. In the field of international development cooperation, training programs (TPs) have been widely employed to enhance the capacity of workforces in developing countries. This paper investigates the conditions in which these programs can contribute not only to individual…

Japan has made developing global human resources ("gurobaru jinzai ikusei") a national priority. The government has invested billions of yen annually to double the number of Japanese students studying overseas, double the number of globally competitive Japanese universities, and improve Japanese students' English test scores. A broad,…

Although work experiences are recognized as important mechanisms for developing leaders in organizations, existing research has focused primarily on work assignments rather than on human resource development (HRD) systems that promote experiential learning of managers. The primary goal of this study was to develop an HRD model for facilitating…