![]() Then again, there are also schools and classes where the abacus lessons are not being offered for a variety of reasons. Here, our main activities are to assist with classes and offer advice about teaching methods. Because of that, it is rare for a JOCV to teach a class themselves. She commented, “Many teachers here have the skills needed to teach the abacus, as it is a required subject in the country's teachers' training school. Yuka Nagaoka (JOCV/ abacus) has a post on the main Tongan island of Tongatapu as a “ Soroban Officer.” Each day, she rotates between 10 schools out of the island's 46 public primary schools. Over many years, the abacus has served as a tool for deepening the bonds between Japan and Tonga.Ĭertified abacus rank holder Ms. During the Sixth Pacific Islands Leaders' Meeting (PALM6) that took place in Okinawa in 2012, approximately 900 abacuses were presented to the Prime Minister of Tonga. For that reason, JICA has been gathering abacuses from throughout Japan that are no longer in use and donating them through its “Smile for All in the World 1” program. However, the country's remote islands and rural areas do not have enough abacuses for their students. Tests and abacus competitions are also held. ![]() Furthermore, since 1989, JICA has also been dispatching Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs) to the Ministry of Education and Training of Tonga to serve as abacus instructors and primary school teachers.Ĭurrently, students from the third to fifth grade in Tongan public elementary schools learn how to use an abacus for 15 minutes every day. (Photo: Yuka Nagaoka)ĭid you know that the Soroban (abacus) that Japanese people are so familiar with is being used to teach algebra in the small island Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean? Since 1978, when it received a request from the King of Tonga, Daito Bunka University has been working to train abacus instructors through initiatives such as accepting exchange students. Roani Tahitoa, the local Soroban Officer.
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