The G-8 Summit in Cologne, Germany, last year focused on the importance of education in this age of globalization and Information Technology. The late Prime Minister Mr. Obuchi stressed on that occasion the importance of the new 3 Rs in Japan, that is, foreign language proficiency corresponding to reading and writing, and computer skills corresponding to the abacus. Another point that was stressed was that education is not just what you learn at school but should be conceived of as a process that continues throughout your life. In Japan s aid policy to Pakistan, education forms an important part of our priority area, that is, assistance in the social sector. We feel that we will probably need to place even greater emphasis on basic education.
Education is about transferring knowledge, skills and experiences from one human-being to another.
In the context of aid policy, this means that assistance in software, namely, school management, curriculum, teachers training, etc., are just as important as assistance in hardware such as building schools and providing equipment. In that sense, I am sure we have a lot to learn from the actual experiences of the two experts we have with us today, Mr. Shinji Tajima and Mr. Shouji Murata. He has experimented a number of original ideas including papermaking as a means of promoting literacy. Education is an integral part of nation-building. It is for the people of Pakistan themselves to tackle the many challenges in this regard, such as the 3 Rs, community development, and life-long education including creating opportunities for women.