This is another entry about Mr. Saisho (in Japanese), a Waseda University student. He’s been on leave from school for two years working in Bangladesh. I’ve written about him several times here. Mr. Saisho has been working on a great project that brings hope to a poor village in Bangladesh. The project uses e-education to assist and empower youth in preparing for entrance exams for top Bangladesh universities. Preparation for these exams is usually class-driven; Mr Saisho and his colleagues are helping to lesson obstacles for the poorer.
Two students succeeded in the exam. The news was reported on the local newspaper under a bold heading. Japanese media has been covering this news as well. Mr. Saisho and his friends started this project two yeas ago and later gave it an ambitious name: ‘Grameen Change Maker Program’.
What happened to the other students? Well, I received a follow up e-mail from Mr. Saisho yesterday. According to his message, two more students passed the exams.
"Dr. Kurokawa,
Here is more good news. Two male students passed the entrance exam to the Teachers College of Comilla University, the 5th best national university in Bangladesh!!!
Below is the summary to date.
Accepted to University of Dhaka, the No.1 National University:
Bhuran Uddian Helal (male)
1,276th of 36,000 applicants
Accepted to Jagannath University, the No.3 National University:
Jaren Akter (female)
2,000th of 70,000 applicants
Accepted to Comilla University (Teachers College), the No.5 National University:
Muhamad Hossian (male)
480th of 40,000 applicants
Accepted to Comilla University (Teachers College), the No.5 National University:
MD Jafor Ahmed (male)
270th of 70,000 applicants
Each student passed with high scores!
Here, people are praising the achievement by calling it a ‘miracle in Hamchar village’
Now, people are curious to know more about the Dragon Cherry Blossoms e-Education method ? to learn the secret of how the village high school students succeeded in passing the university entrance exams with such high scores.
Sincerely,
Atsuyoshi Saisho”
For all those elderly who look down upon our youth, what do you think of this? Youths today are not in as bad of a place as you think. They are actually reliable and know exactly what they are doing.
Just giving them a small nudge from behind, like encouraging them to take a leave of absence from school and go abroad, is enough to make them go and see the new broad world, to find issues, and to challenge the issues bravely.
I advise youths to not be afraid of failures. Have ambition and courage to challenge high goals. Try, and when you fail, learn your lessons from your failure and try again. This is the key. In short, it is ‘No Failure, no success’.
It is this young population that we want and that we are always looking for. Are they not the human asset – the human resource whom the society, companies, and Japan as a nation need? They are what we would call the ‘nails that stick out (Deru Kui)’, people who are not restricted to the commonsense of the Japanese society.
This is the reason why I so strongly recommend taking leave of absence from school. We should give the youth opportunities to be aware of their possibilities. As I always say, Japan is only a part of the wide world.
For you, readers, I would like to remind you that there are so many ways of helping such youth. I ask for your warm support.