BULLETIN BOARD

An Educational Trip to Japan

Mosarrat Mahjabeen Meem

Getting an opportunity to visit a new country is a blessing for many students. The same thing happened to us when we, a group of 85 students from local schools and colleges, got an opportunity to visit Japan for attending JENESYS 2.0 -- a short-term programme for students from SAARC countries. For us it was more than just a trip, as we worked as Friendship Ambassadors to strengthen the friendship between Bangladesh and Japan.
We started our journey on December 8, 2013. The cold weather of Japan, the warm hospitable people, and amazing transportation system awaited us as we left Narita Airport. The students of Bangladesh and Afghanistan were divided into three groups. Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE) organised the tour. The tour was a bundle of cultural-historical-social study, school-exchange, home-stay and workshop.
Japan is a technologically developed country with unique culture and tradition, exotic landscapes, and hard working people. During our stay, a visit to Edo-Tokyo Museum gave us glimpses of the ancient Edo (the previous name of Tokyo) and modern Tokyo. We visited Asakusa Temple, a hub of many traditional festivals and seasonal fairs including the annual Sanja-Matsuri in May -- one of Tokyo's most vibrant events. Trying Omikuzi for knowing our fortune was an interesting part of that visit, while Akihabara was the cherished destination for Japanese anime and manga lovers.
We also visited Miyazaki Prefecture. Well planned city, clean environment, beautiful countryside of Miyazaki amazed us. Interesting demonstration of scientific methods at Miyazaki Science Centre was a delight to observe. Solar Frontier is the first and only Giga-watt-scale manufacturer of CIS solar module. There we saw the process of producing electricity. The waste management and recycling system was also astonishing at the Miyazaki Eco-Clean Park.
We exchanged views with Japanese people. We attended their wedding ceremony, tea ceremony, illumination of Christmas lights and other festivals which left us awestruck. We were surprised at Miyazaki Nishi High School. There are 30 clubs in that school! Next part of our trip was home-stay. We were fortunate to get a second family. That was an amazing experience for all of us. Even now they keep in touch with us through e-mail and Facebook.
Japanese people, their sincerity, and capability were mind-boggling. At the airport, we saw a child carrying his bag by himself. His mother was with him but she didn't take the bag and let the child carry it. At the Eco park, we saw some differently-able people working enthusiastically with others. Our trip ended on December 17, 2013.

Mosarrat Mahjabeen Meem was part of the group that visited Japan.

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Seminar on online PhD/DBA at Insight School of Learning

Insight School of Learning arranged a seminar on online PhD and DBA programmes for students interested to obtain the degrees from SMC University (SMCU), Switzerland. SMC University is accredited by Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), USA. The seminar was held at the conference room of Insight School on January 3, 2014. Key speakers at the seminar were Professor Syed Ferhat Anwar, IBA, University of Dhaka; Dr. A.K. Enamul Haque, Professor, United International University (UIU); Dr. Samir Asaf, Bangladeshi Ambassador, SMC University, Zurich; Dr. Saleh Uddin, former Vice-Chancellor, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology; and Dr. Habibur Rahman, former Dean, School of Business, UIU.
Speakers at the seminar mentioned that leading universities of the world are now using internet to deliver their classes and Bangladeshi students can take advantage of this. Teachers of public and private universities, senior executives of various government and non-government organisations attended the seminar.