NEWS

On Wednesday, April 24, 2013, a ceremony was held to mark the start of the Iwata Academy - APU/Ritsumeikan Course, a joint secondary/tertiary education initiative between the Iwata Academy and APU. The ceremony was attended by 14 first-year Iwata Academy students, their parents, and representatives from Iwata Academy and APU. Also attending were the APU student Teaching Assistants (TA) that will be involved in this course.

During the opening ceremony, APU Vice-President, HIRATA Junichi offered a few words of encouragement before presenting each participating Iwata Academy student with an APU library card, “Over the coming year you will have the opportunity to experience studying at both the secondary and tertiary level. You will be able to compare the different study methods you experience and understand the characteristics of each. One of the main purposes of this secondary/tertiary education course is to help you discover how best to study and to start thinking about your future. Please do your best”. Iwata student, MIYAZAKI Reina spoke on behalf of the new course students, “The Iwata Academy - APU/Ritsumeikan Course offers us the opportunity to interact with domestic and international university students, which is something we cannot easily do at high school. I have been looking forward to this course and I aim to work with my fellow students to learn as much as I can and expand my horizons. I also aim to be studying here in this international environment in three years time”.

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and the Iwata Academy (Oita City) signed a university-high school liaison agreement in May 2007, as a way of promoting the development of globally-minded graduates in Oita Prefecture. This agreement led to the establishment of the Iwata Academy - APU/Ritsumeikan Course in April, 2008. Including this year’s intake, the program has so far welcomed 99 Iwata Academy students. Students on this program study under a course curriculum developed by the Ritsumeikan Trust and the Iwata Academy.