On Thursday, November 26, 2009, Director of Kumon Educational Japan Co., TSUNODA Akio delivered an RCAPS seminar under the theme of "Discovering the potential of the children of the world-The Kumon Way".
Mr. TSUNODA used photos and pictures to introduce the Kumon philosophy and students studying at Kumon classrooms around the world. He spoke of the Kumon philosophy of encouraging world peace through education, a philosophy shared by APU. Kumon has currently spread to 46 countries and regions around the world. Mr. TSUNODA emphasized that Japanese educational providers need to believe in the potential of their students and of the importance of an educational system that meets the needs of our society currently experiencing a diversification of values systems.
At the following Q&A session, one of the audience members asked about schooling costs and improving the education of people living in poverty, to which Mr. TSUNODA replied that, "This is a future issue for the entire educational sector". He then encouraged the students, "It is important to set goals in your work and take on challenges. One often doesn't know ones full potential, but I ask you to challenge and re-discover yourself".
RCAPS was established in July 1996 with a mission to promote and foster research into the multifaceted developments and challenges that face the Asia Pacific region in the 21st Century. RCAPS seminars are held regularly at which lecturers from both on and off campus are invited to share research findings in the field of Asia Pacific Studies.
Reporter, Student Press Assistant (SPA): KOMORI Midori (APM2, Japan)
Video(WMV)
Power Point(PDF)