The Japanese Language Teachers Training Centre recently rolled out first batch of future Japanese language teachers who successfully completed “Teachers Training Course – A”.
Trained by Japanese language experts, these trainees would eventually become Japanese language teachers and impart training to others opting to learn this language in India.
Set up by The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA and Embassy of Japan with the support of Japan Foundation in July with the objective to expand Japanese language education in India, the Training Centre has ambitious plans to train 1,000 teachers and launch Japanese language certificate courses at 100 higher educational institutions in India, in the next five years.
At the Japan-India summit meeting held in September 2017, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi decided to train 1,000 teachers and launch Japanese language certificate courses at 100 higher educational institutions in India, in the next five years.
On October 12, the completion ceremony of Teachers’ Training Course – A (3-month training with 360 hrs) was held at the UGC-HRDC (University Grants Commission – Human Resource Development Centre) in Jawaharlal Nehru University, which was attended by Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu from the Japanese side, and Prof. Ashok Kumar Chawla, Advisor, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, the Vice Chancellor, JNU from the Indian side, among others.
On this occasion, ambassador Hiramatsu congratulated the successful trainees and handed over the certificate to each trainee.
“Alongside the steady increase in the number of Japanese companies in India every year, these Japanese companies are becoming indispensable partners for India to promote the “Make in India” initiative, and these companies require skilled Indian workers who can speak Japanese language,”Hiramatsu said.
He added, “There is thus a growing need for qualified Japanese language teachers who can teach Japanese language at higher education institutions, to the future Indian manpower for those companies.”
From the Japanese side, Kaoru Miyamoto, Director General of Japan Foundation, New Delhi, and Japanese Language expert, Ms. Shinako Sakemi, also addressed the students. Ms. Vaidehi Mulay expressed her appreciation on behalf of all the trainees, to their teachers and the governments of India and Japan, as well as their determination to become excellent Japanese language teachers and to act as a bridge between Japan and India in the future.
