Prof. Shinobu Yamaguchi Recognized as Honorary Worker
of the Mongolian Education Sector

Ulaanbaator, Mongolia - The Minister of Education and Science, Mr. L. Gantumur presented Prof. Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi with the Honorary Worker of the Mongolian Education Sector award during the opening session of the “Sustainable Use of ICT for Improving the Quality of Primary Education in Mongolia” Kickoff Meeting. This award is presented to individuals who significantly contribute to improving the future of Mongolian children.

This year marks Prof. Yamaguchi’s 19th year of continuous tireless work at the Mongolian education sector. Her involvement started from being a young UNESCO education officer in 1993 working with Prof. Bat-Erdene, Dr. Bandii, Mr. Namkhaijanzen and other education experts to identify and address the issues of the Mongolian education sector at the beginning of the difficult transition period. After the Dzud (extreme cold) natural disaster in the early 2000s, she worked with UNESCO and UNICEF through UN Human Security Funds to address the training needs of Mongolian teachers. More recently, she planned, implemented, and successfully completed two phases of a project to introduce ICT into teacher training for primary school teachers throughout Mongolia funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology and in cooperation with the Mongolian State University of Education.

The kickoff meeting, where Prof. Yamaguchi’s award was presented, marks a major milestone in the recently commenced grassroots project funded by JICA to give all primary school teachers throughout Mongolia the chance to contribute their creative ideas to make and use digitalized teacher training materials.