Japanese learning style fascinates city students

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 30

Six Class XII students from the city, who recently went to Japan under the Sakura Science Student Exchange Programme, shared their experience with The Tribune at UT Secretariat here today.

The programme, held between April 20 and April 25, was administered by the Japan Science Technology (JST).

Paramjeet Singh, who is a physics lecturer at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, was the supervisor and had escorted the students on the tour.

The first thing students and supervisors were taught was how to deal with an emergency situation such as an earthquake while in Japan. “We were taught how to evacuate during a natural calamity,” said Jivitesh Sharma, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35.

“Japanese don’t just teach, they implement whatever they teach. It’s astounding that they teach manners till Class IV, before introducing a child to the world of tutoring,” shared Angad Bawa, a student of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27.

Bawa added: “Two things we imbibed in our lifestyle from the Japanese culture are timekeeping and etiquettes. Even the chief guest of an event arrives 30 minutes before the schedule. If an event is scheduled for two hours, it will not exceed a minute.”

Realistic teaching

Rishavjot Singh, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, said he was amazed to see a 10-year-old Japanese student performing dissection on a specimen. “The teaching is more realistic as they focus on practical training.”

Another student, Sanil Gupta of Delhi Public School, shared similar thoughts. He said: “The kids in Japan are working on problems that the world is facing. There is a dream lab in schools wherein a teacher is always available for students who want to create or innovate anything.”

“They even had a nuclear reactor in their laboratories. Students had created their own solar panel.”

Keeping culture intact

Kumal Garg, a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Mani Majra, said: “It was astonishing to see that they don’t leave their culture and teach in Japanese only. There were very few courses in English.”

Students were all praise for Japan’s techno-friendly Tokyo where they had stayed.

Only female student to visit Japan

The Education Department while skimming through potential candidates for the exchange programme looked for students who knew Japanese language.

Sehar Dua of Government Girls Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 18, was the only student among others from the UT who knew the language. “It was my first ever air travel. After visiting Japan, we realised how and why it’s leading in the science and technology.”

“We encountered at least 11 types of automatic toilets, some played music too,” she added.

The students were selected through a rigorous process involving aptitude and interview. After selection, students were given one-month training and were asked to pitch in scientific ideas.