Visit from Yutaka College in Japan

The TCPID were delighted to welcome a visiting delegation from Yutaka College in Japan on June 25th and 26th.

The members of the visiting team from Yutaka College included:

Mr Masato Hasegawa, Mrs Mie Hasegawa, Ms Yukiko Kamiya, Ms Miwa Miyairi and Dr Rieko Fry who acted as interpreter throughout the visit.

Mr and Mrs Hasegawa set up Yutaka College in 2015 and since then have provided educational programmes for students with intellectual disabilities in over eight campuses in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Fukuoka and Nagasaki.

The four-year programme currently running covers 10 subjects in the first and second years (health care / culture and arts / economics / work / academic skills / assessment / independence etc.), with a focus on employment on the third and fourth years.

The visit was coordinated by Dr. John Kubiak who had previously met with Mr. and Mrs Hasegawa in 2017 when they were in the process of visiting several countries worldwide (US / Canada / Australia / Korea / Europe). At that time, they visited 20 programmes in nine countries to build on their knowledge of current post-educational programmes and to network with others who are currently delivering inclusive programmes outside Japan.

During their visit to the TCPID Mr and Mrs Hasegawa wanted to learn more about the TCPID and how it has progressed since their last visit. They also shared with us what they had learned from their visits to other parts of the world, namely USA, Canada, Australia, Korea, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Sweden and also outlined the current situation in Japan.

Following the visit the president of Yutaka College Mr. Masato Hasegawa sent the following message:

Thank you so much for sharing your valuable time with us. We’ve all found our meetings extremely helpful, positive and resourceful. We would like to take back everything we’ve learned at TCPID and help us improve the standard of education for people with ID back in Japan. We feel deeply grateful to you for arranging all the talks with so many wonderful people in your team at TCPID. We felt so honoured and privileged. Thank you very much. Thank you also for the tickets to the Books of Kells exhibition, too.

Thank you once again. Please kindly convey our sincere thanks to all the people who gave wonderful presentations.