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6.1.3 An Island (Ama-cho) that Increased the Number
of Children Attending School Despite a Declining
Birthrate
The Dozen group of islands, located in Oki district in Shimane prefecture, is another
region that has overcome issues.
A declining birthrate and aging population are both proceeding at a fast pace in
the Dozen island area. In 2007 the number of children aged 15 was 51, less than half
of what it had been at the peak period. The Shimane Prefectural Oki-Dozen Senior
High School, located in the town of Ama, in the center of the Dozen area, had only
28 new students enter in 2008, reaching a new low that threatened the school’s
existence.
The residents of Ama helped to launch the Oki-Dozen Senior High School
Appeal Project. All the island’s residents sought to make the school recognized as
being very attractive in the field of education, and they enacted a strategy to stop the
younger generation from leaving the island and to attract families with young children, and former residents back to the island.
The high school set up a community development course and prepared a unique
curriculum that includes community life studies, work experiences at local businesses, and studies to resolve issues through collaboration with the local community. Using interaction with high school students as a starting point, the local
community is aiming to revitalize the region by making use of local resources. The
sightseeing plan Hito-tsunagi (connecting people), which was put together mainly
by Dozen High School students, did an amazing job of receiving first prize in a
national sightseeing plan contest for high school students.
As well as the creation of substantial content education-wise, a dormitory was
set up to enable students who are not from the island to attend the school. Activities
to attract students for Shima-ryugaku (Studying on the Island) are being promoted.
The catchy Japanese name has been receiving attention from the media and in 2012,
enough applicants were received to boost the number of classes, something unprecedented. Nowadays nearly half of the new students entering the school are not local
island residents.
This project at Ama is unique in the way that it connected the school and the local
community. Measures aimed at stopping the decline in population are usually
focused on developing industry and creating employment. However, as the town of
Ama is poor in industrial resources, the community decided to do their best by using
education as their own special feature. The town hopes to nurture the kind of people
who can find out what the issues are on their own initiative and think of a way to
resolve those issues while networking with other various people. This can viewed as
a model for creating human resources in a problem-solving developed country.
Actually, from the perspective of regional development, this project has even
greater significance. If a community loses its senior high school, the teenagers will
leave their hometown when they graduate from junior high school. Upon graduation
from senior high school, the teenagers will probably leave their hometown too, but
6.1 What Is a Platinum Society?
6.1.3 An Island (Ama-cho) that Increased the Number
of Children Attending School Despite a Declining
Birthrate
The Dozen group of islands, located in Oki district in Shimane prefecture, is another
region that has overcome issues.
A declining birthrate and aging population are both proceeding at a fast pace in
the Dozen island area. In 2007 the number of children aged 15 was 51, less than half
of what it had been at the peak period. The Shimane Prefectural Oki-Dozen Senior
High School, located in the town of Ama, in the center of the Dozen area, had only
28 new students enter in 2008, reaching a new low that threatened the school’s
existence.
The residents of Ama helped to launch the Oki-Dozen Senior High School
Appeal Project. All the island’s residents sought to make the school recognized as
being very attractive in the field of education, and they enacted a strategy to stop the
younger generation from leaving the island and to attract families with young children, and former residents back to the island.
The high school set up a community development course and prepared a unique
curriculum that includes community life studies, work experiences at local businesses, and studies to resolve issues through collaboration with the local community. Using interaction with high school students as a starting point, the local
community is aiming to revitalize the region by making use of local resources. The
sightseeing plan Hito-tsunagi (connecting people), which was put together mainly
by Dozen High School students, did an amazing job of receiving first prize in a
national sightseeing plan contest for high school students.
As well as the creation of substantial content education-wise, a dormitory was
set up to enable students who are not from the island to attend the school. Activities
to attract students for Shima-ryugaku (Studying on the Island) are being promoted.
The catchy Japanese name has been receiving attention from the media and in 2012,
enough applicants were received to boost the number of classes, something unprecedented. Nowadays nearly half of the new students entering the school are not local
island residents.
This project at Ama is unique in the way that it connected the school and the local
community. Measures aimed at stopping the decline in population are usually
focused on developing industry and creating employment. However, as the town of
Ama is poor in industrial resources, the community decided to do their best by using
education as their own special feature. The town hopes to nurture the kind of people
who can find out what the issues are on their own initiative and think of a way to
resolve those issues while networking with other various people. This can viewed as
a model for creating human resources in a problem-solving developed country.
Actually, from the perspective of regional development, this project has even
greater significance. If a community loses its senior high school, the teenagers will
leave their hometown when they graduate from junior high school. Upon graduation
from senior high school, the teenagers will probably leave their hometown too, but
6.1 What Is a Platinum Society?