Featured in the August issue of e-Columbus! !

article quotes

“Online International Classes” by With The World Co., Ltd., an educational venture, is attracting attention.
Several schools, including Kwansei Gakuin High School (Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture), have already adopted it, and the implementation period is 12 months (XNUMX times in total).

Japanese schools and overseas schools (Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar) are connected by an online conference system, and each group sets social issues in line with the SDGs, investigates and reports on their solutions, and presents them. That's the flow.
Of course, each group is a mixed team of Japanese and foreigners, and communication takes place in English.
Therefore, "Students can learn about poverty issues and the issues of their country while acquiring communication skills in English.

You can also cultivate leadership through active learning," says President Shunta Igarashi.
In addition, there are active exchanges on SNS outside of class, and the curriculum includes opportunities to visit each other's countries, so the communication will be quite deep.
It seems to be the most suitable educational program for cultivating global leaders.
The president of With The World Co., Ltd., Shunta Igarashi, introduced on the cover, is currently 28 years old.
I heard that he had a desire to "contribute to solving the problem of poverty in the world" since he was in college, and that he traveled to the Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand in his fourth year of college, and met children in impoverished areas in each country.
“I collected about 100 tennis rackets through SNS and taught tennis to about 120 children. On the other hand, I keenly felt that there were few opportunities for education, and I wanted to continue to do my best to solve that problem,” he recalls.
After that, President Igarashi worked for Pasona Group for about three years, and after gaining experience in launching new businesses, he became independent in 2018. He says that he developed an educational program for online international classes with the desire to "first make as many young people as possible aware of the problem of poverty."

By the way, it is said that the number of schools that have adopted this educational program has been well received, and the number of schools that have adopted it is steadily increasing.
Moreover, it is said that it is playing a role in terms of international exchange, such as continuing exchanges between students even after graduation.
There is no doubt that the second and third Igarashi presidents will emerge from this class in the near future. (MOW)