Two Oita towns to launch program to nurture aspiring local teachers
The program will be offered at Oita Prefectural Kusu Miyama High School in the town of Kusu with the support of the prefectural board of education.
Most teachers in Oita Prefecture prefer to work in urban areas, and even if they are assigned to work in the two towns located in a mountainous region, many choose to be transferred to other districts after a few years.
As the two towns are facing continuous population decline, there are few young aspiring teachers there.
Authorities hope the program, which will run throughout the year, will foster teachers who can act as leaders in community education.
Toru Wakabayashi, head of the education ministry's office for teacher training planning, said, 'Learning about the local community and the benefits of a teaching career during high school is an effective way to support students who hope to become teachers.'
'There are cases in which universities offering an education major organize teacher training sessions at local high schools to recruit students, but I have never heard of municipalities setting up a year-long course,' he said.
The program, expected to have 30 classes in a year, will be offered to students enrolled at the high school wishing to pursue teaching at the elementary, junior high or high school levels.
The classes will involve lectures and classroom teaching practice sessions at local elementary and junior high schools.
The students will also study basics of fields of expertise necessary for teaching in today's educational settings, such as intercultural understanding, social cohesion and special needs education.
The program aims to cultivate the students' love for their hometown by giving them opportunities to look into the challenges faced by the local community and take part in projects to work together with local residents.
The classes will be mainly taught by teachers at the high school and at a university specializing in teacher training. Company executives will also be invited to lecture.
Each student will have a teacher or an education board staff member serving as a mentor.
Expenses for purchasing education materials and taking part in trial lessons at universities, as well as transportation fees, will be partially covered by the boards of education in the two towns.
The students will give a research presentation in front of teachers and the superintendents of the boards of education once a year.
Because some students are already asking to take the course, the program might start on a trial basis during the current school year.
A council was established, with members including the towns' mayors, residents, officials from educational institutions and representatives of local companies. It will review the contents of the program and support measures based on feedback from students and lecturers as well as the career paths the students pursue after graduation.
In the future, the organizers plan to sign an agreement with universities that offer teacher training majors so that students can earn college credits by taking the course while in high school.
The towns are also considering creating a scholarship program for students who take the course and go on to college to become a teacher and exempt them from repaying scholarship loans if they take a teaching position in either of the towns for a certain period.
Kusu Miyama High School is the only high school in the Kusu district, which comprises the two towns. The high school also has an agriculture program.
Tetsuji Ishimaru, vice president of the University of Teacher Education Fukuoka in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, said, 'It is significant that a high school and a university can cooperate under the program.'
'It leads to not only solving the problem of teacher shortage but also helping students achieve their dreams and the community realize sustainable development. It offers a new solution to promote regional revitalization.'
This section features topics and issues from the Kyushu region covered by the Nishinippon Shimbun, the largest daily newspaper in Kyushu. The original article was published July 12.
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