|
At the Second East Asia Summit (EAS) held in January 2007, the then Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe, had announced a plan for a youth exchange program through which approximately 6000 youths from the EAS member states (ASEAN, Australia, China, India, New Zealand, the ROK) would be invited to visit Japan each year for five years (2007 – 2012).
Based on this plan, the Government of Japan launched the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Programme in 2007 with a view to expanding youth exchange and to deepen mutual understanding among young people who will assume important roles in the next generation in each East Asian country. Under the JENESYS Programme, these youth would be invited to Japan for a stay of approximately 10 days, during which they will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Japanese politics, diplomacy, economy, social and cultural affairs, as well as local communities. The activities during their stay in Japan would include field visits to research institutes, museums, etc., as well as having cultural experiences such as home stay with Japanese families and visits to traditional cities and historical sites in Japan.
As India is one of the participant countries in the JENESYS Programme, around 550 Indian youths are earmarked to visit Japan each year during the said 5 years’ period. The selection of a major chunk of participants to be sent to Japan under this programme is done by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, and the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi, with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE), which is the organizing agency responsible for conducting the JENESYS Programme in Japan.
While the first batch of 80 Indian participants completed its Japan tour from 10 to 20 December 2007, five subsequent batches comprising of 320 high school students and teachers drawn from different schools all over India, and 120 Japanese language learners and teachers, as well as winners of various Japan-related contests, are scheduled to visit Japan under the JENESYS Programme during May and June 2008, starting May 12 onwards.
|
