News

On April 24, Tsinghua University (China) and UNESCO jointly convened a virtual conference titled “Special Dialogue on Online Education in the COVID-19 Response and Beyond.” Represented by President Aiji Tanaka, Waseda University was the only Japanese university to be invited to participate in the special dialogue.

At the beginning of the conference, Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong and UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini offered participants from 21 universities in 15 countries welcoming remarks on the importance of creating an online environment for education that is accessible to students, faculty, and staff at universities world-wide while maintaining the quality and fairness of online education. Along with university presidents from Yale, Cambridge, and other top institutions, President Tanaka introduced Waseda’s online education initiatives, stating that “during the novel coronavirus pandemic, if we can adapt to this new environment and be proactive in response to change, we can overcome challenges and connect this experience to our own development as educational institutions.”

According to UNESCO statistics, 191 countries worldwide are facing school closures as a result of COVID-19 and around 1.5 billion students have become unable to gain access to education at school. In the free discussion portion of the conference, 30 panelists from the participating universities enthusiastically exchanged opinions concerning the best ways to proceed with education and research activities, as well as the available avenues for universities to cooperate across national borders in order to fulfill their responsibilities as educational institutions during an emergency scenario like COVID-19.

Even during this difficult time, at Waseda University, we are committed to 1) safeguarding the health and lives of our students, faculty, and staff, 2) providing students with an education, and 3) continuing to engage in research regardless of circumstances. As part of this, we have been undertaking online education initiatives since the early stages of this crisis. Going forward, Waseda will continue to strengthen cooperation with Tsinghua University and other Japanese and overseas universities around the world. We will share information about the various issues that arise due to the novel coronavirus as well as our initiatives to resolve them, such as those we are undertaking in online education, while continuing to fulfill Waseda’s missions to contribute to education, research and society.