Behind educational aid practices lie aid agencies' “donor logic,” or underlying rationales, philosophies and motives of their aid activities. The donor logic of Japanese educational aid-or rather, educational “cooperation” as more frequently used in Japan's aid policies-has been characterized as distinctive from Western donors; the literature has delineated Japan's aid strategy as valuing recipients' ownership, equal partnerships and knowledge co-creation. Such a portrayal of Japanese educational cooperation, however, has been formed predominantly through discourse analysis and historical examination of policy documents and literature; the very presence of aid practitioners has been absented in discussing the donor logic of Japanese aid, and it is unclear whether and how these portrayals align with the aid practitioners' philosophies and motives.

This study explored the donor logic of Japanese educational cooperation from aid practitioners' viewpoints. Thirteen participants affiliated with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in different capacities and at different career stages were interviewed in a semi-structured manner. The interviews explored their lived experiences, dilemmas and rationales of how and why they practice educational aid.

Findings indicate some alignment of Japanese donor logic between previous literature and the interviewees' narratives, but they also revealed the challenges they encounter within the current aid architecture. The participants placed value on the ownership and self-help efforts of recipient countries, with Japan playing facilitative roles in helping realize their desires and priorities. This requires “doing development together” hand-in-hand to contextualize aid programs in particular countries. This way of doing educational development, nevertheless, has been in jeopardy due to budget cuts, the increasing dependency on contract-based consultants, and the demand to demonstrate measurable outcomes in the short term.

Carefully listening and analyzing practitioners' narrative may offer an alternative research approach to uncover more complex aspects of aid practice. The interview accounts in this research suggest that the approaches emphasized by Japan's educational cooperation may offer the seeds of decolonial alternatives to the dominant mode of educational development.

This paper reexamines the management and evaluation of educational cooperation under SDG4, “Leave No One Behind,” through the case of the Advancing Quality Alternative Learning Project (AQAL) implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Pakistan, from a decolonial perspective. Conventional international cooperation has emphasized donor-led evaluation frameworks that prioritize efficiency and scientific reliability, often at the expense of local agency and indigenous knowledge. In contrast, this study applies the “fifth paradigm” of evaluation―emphasizing indigenous knowledge systems and relationality―and Patton's “third level of accountability,” which highlights accountability for learning, development, and adaptation, as its analytical framework to examine AQAL's unique features.

Pakistan faces a severe challenge, with an estimated 26 million out-of-school children, a problem that cannot be solved by conventional schooling alone. AQAL introduced flexible learning opportunities for out-of-school children and low-literacy populations, notably through Accelerated Learning Programs (ALP), while institutionalizing the recognition of learning achievements. The project also strengthened educational administration, established collaborative platforms that included government agencies, NGOs, and universities, and introduced the data-driven management tool NFEMIS, which enhanced evidence-based decision-making and flexible and needs-based implementation.

A distinctive characteristic of AQAL lies in its independence from rigid donor frameworks. It incorporated local knowledge and experience into evaluation processes and fostered a culture where failure was treated as a resource for learning. Evaluation functioned not merely as performance measurement but as a “device for co-creating value,” enhancing the agency of local governments and civil society. Consequently, AQAL facilitated the emergence of a “self-evolving system” that contributed to broader educational reforms and dynamic social transformation.

From AQAL's experience, this study identifies seven key elements―dialogue-based decision-making, data as a shared language, a culture of learning from failure, codification of tacit knowledge, crossdisciplinary knowledge creation, integration of adaptive management and coproductive evaluation, and cyclical learning mechanisms. These elements constitute a tentative “AQAL model,” offering a transferable framework for educational cooperation. The model demonstrates the potential of moving beyond evaluation as measurement toward evaluation as a process of jointly creating value in pursuit of inclusive education.

This study examines the researcher's positionality through the perspective of epistemic decolonization. One of the key arguments in the epistemic decolonization discourse is decentering the knowledge production process. It calls for critical reviews on the established research methodologies that reinforce the modern Western paradigm of knowledge. This study provides a narrative review of epistemic decolonization, focusing particularly on the researcher's positionality. The review suggests examining the assumed dichotomous relationship between researchers and informants. Reflecting on his past interactions with informants at two field research sites, the author argues that exploring a new approach is essential in order to open up the in-betweenness within those concepts and theories which are based on a binary worldview.

This study examines the discursive construction of citizenship in Madagascar's upper secondary curriculum, focusing on the 2019-2020 curriculum reforms. Using a qualitative research design grounded in Critical Discourse Analysis and informed by decolonial theory, the study explores how language, ideology, and social structures intersect in curricular texts. The analysis investigates how citizenship is framed, which values and knowledge systems are privileged, and what silences or omissions reveal about underlying power relations. Findings show that the curriculum articulates a hybrid discourse, combining nationalist-cultural, global civic, and developmental-economic orientations. Malagasy identity, moral values, and respect for social hierarchies are foregrounded, positioning students as patriotic citizens morally accountable to their communities and the nation. Simultaneously, references to human rights, sustainable development, ICT competence, and employability situate learners within global civic and economic frameworks, reflecting the influence of international policy agendas and the goals of global education. Despite this hybridity, the curriculum reproduces enduring colonial legacies. French remains the dominant language of instruction, and local epistemologies are often marginalized. The study highlights how Madagascar's curriculum negotiates the tension between postcolonial nation-building and globalization, producing citizens who are both locally grounded and globally competent, yet constrained by linguistic and ideological dependencies.

This paper has examined the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), introduced in Kenya in 2017, with a particular focus on learner-centred pedagogy. Learner-centred approaches have been positioned as a means of cultivating human resources that contribute to the socioeconomic development of the nation through school education, and they have been adopted in Kenya with relatively little critical scrutiny. However, every pedagogical approach is embedded with the educational philosophies and socio-cultural values of the context in which it was developed, and learnercentred pedagogy itself has evolved from a Western, individual-centred ontological and epistemological perspectives. Therefore, implementing it directly in Kenya inevitably gives rise to discrepancies with local conditions.

The paper is based on fieldwork conducted over a two-week period in August 2024 in two counties of Kenya. With the introduction of the new education system, primary and junior secondary schools are now established on the same site, and the headteacher of the primary school also serves as the principal of the junior secondary school. During the fieldwork, seven public schools were visited, and semi-structured interviews regarding the implementation of the CBC were conducted with a total of 14 participants: the headteacher and one secondary school teacher at each school. Since classroom participant observation could not be conducted during the aforementioned fieldwork period, the analysis in this study also draws on classroom observations conducted in 2023 at three public schools in the capital.

The findings of this study reveal that the prerequisites for learner-centred pedagogy does not necessarily align with the Kenyan context. Furthermore, the results suggest that, rather than emphasizing an individual-centred perspective (learner-centred), an approach that prioritizes mutual learning among learners is more appropriate in the Kenyan context. Nevertheless, this study did not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the specific positioning of concepts such as learners-centred, learnerscommunity, or learners-learning. Future research is therefore required to further explore pedagogical approaches that can more effectively support the learning of children living within Kenya's communal society.

In Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, there is a ‘street’ where single women (including de facto single mothers and those who are in single-mother alike situation) gather with their children, especially girls, in the evening until midnight. These mothers are widowed or divorced, or they have children with a husband who is addicted to drugs or is ill, or who has another family. Many of the mothers are first or second-generation immigrants from Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) or the Arakan region of Myanmar, known as ‘Bengalis,’ and they do not have Pakistani citizenship and are stateless. The mothers try to escape the desperate situation of their families, who struggle to even afford food for the day, by earning money from their children's peddling and begging on the streets, and by obtaining free meals from restaurants.

This paper aims to clarify what kind of tactics women in crisis situations use to make ends meet, particularly in response to the sudden crisis of the Coronavirus pandemic that began in March 2020. Since 2017, the author has been conducting research into the reasons why children have been coming out onto the streets to beg or sell things alongside their mothers. In this paper, the data collected so far, which has focused on the children, has been reanalyzed from the perspective of the mothers. New data has also been collected through interviews to ascertain the tactics adopted by mothers in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis followed by economic crises. It can be concluded that in response to the crises, mothers are attempting to establish the ‘street’ as a safe and secure environment for themselves, since they are unable to receive necessary support from the government and communities.

In Bangladesh, women have traditionally been assigned the role of wives and mothers in patriarchal households. Furthermore, their socio-economic activities have been restricted by the purdah norm, which prohibits women from contacting men outside of their houses. This paper aims to clarify how Bangladeshi women responded to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and how their responses affected the gender norms and gender relations that had previously restricted women from economic activities, through a case study of Pabna district in northwest Bangladesh.

The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic required ongoing responses over approximately three years, including subsequent inflation. As a result of responses to the economic crisis, the mutual dependency of couples based on the purdah norm, where husbands provide economic support instead of women's restricted participation in socio-economic activities, weakened. The restriction of ensuring social distancing for infection control has served as a means to promote women's economic activities. However, women's involvement in economic activities did not directly lead to improvements in gender relations that disadvantage women. Women tended to adjust their economic activities in a way that aligned with the purdah norm, thus avoiding friction in their household relations. From a longterm perspective, women have gained negotiation opportunities and tactics through their economic activities to improve the gender relations that disadvantage women within households. On the other hand, women who lost their husbands tended to engage in economic activities that deviated from the purdah norm. These women are expected to become agents of change in the long term, leading to transformation in gender structures. However, at this stage, they are placed in a vulnerable position within a patriarchal society and face socio-economic risks. Development cooperation is expected to play a crucial role in providing support to such women in technical and financial resources for their economic activities and securing socio-economic safety.

Drawing on accumulated experience in implementing the WPS Agenda norms, this paper extracts a perspective for analyzing the humanitarian crises in specific regions where the WPS Agenda has been implemented. Using this perspective, it analyzes the crises faced by the region that would become Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) before its establishment. Based on analysis of the Social Contract Charter of DAANES (revised version in 2023), it then identifies the gender mainstreaming mechanisms embedded in the governance system of DAANES, which was formed in response to the crisis. From the perspective of the WPS Agenda norms, this is a remarkable achievement and a good example that should be recommended.

This paper also outlines the conditions for the formation of the DAANES governance system, which incorporates gender mainstreaming mechanisms. These conditions, described as a response to four crises―military, political, ideological, and economic―are merely a rough outline.

The establishment of DAANES, described as the contingent creation of a gender-mainstreaming governance system embedded in a coalition of community assemblies facing genocide and sexual violence, may be recast as the inevitable outcome of historical conditions in future. This is a remaining challenge that is essential for realizing the WPS Agenda norms.

This study investigates how women farmers' responses to risk shape intrahousehold gender relations in southwestern Nigeria. Drawing on survey and interview data from smallholder farmers in Ogun State, the analysis distinguishes between two categories of risks: external risks―including climate variability, pests, and price fluctuations―and structural risks―such as limited access to land and credit, gendered divisions of labor, and unequal marital relations.

The findings reveal clear gender differences in risk perception. Men primarily interpret risks in terms of agricultural yields and income loss, whereas women perceive them as threats to household food security, children's education, and family stability. Coping strategies also diverge. Women adopt immediate and flexible measures, such as cassava processing and market diversification. While these strategies are essential for household survival, they also compensate for men's withdrawal from their provisioning responsibilities, thereby reproducing existing gender inequalities. At the same time, women's income-generating activities enhance their bargaining power and open up opportunities for transforming household relations.

The analysis engages with Whitehead's concept of the conjugal contract, Sen's cooperative conflict model, and Kandiyoti's notion of bargaining with patriarchy, while underscoring the contextual specificity of income separation and polygyny in southwestern Nigeria. Overall, the study contributes to development research by showing that women's risk responses are not merely coping mechanisms but constitute a dual process of both reproducing and transforming intrahousehold gender relations. Policy implications highlight the need for integrated approaches that link agricultural support with gender equality and legal protections in order to strengthen women's adaptive capacity.

The article articulated the relationship between the intake of specific wild food species and children's diarrhea or constipation in southeast Tanzania. From the responses of 376 children (338 in the robustness test) to a questionnaire (age average of 11.95) in four coastal/inland and rural/semirural/urban locations, 83 species were analyzed (Wilcoxon rank sum test) with diarrhea/constipation frequency, and 16 species were further discussed in four focus groups with 43 children from the same locations. Children in all schools indicated that swallowing various fruit seeds induces constipation, which agrees with rare medical case reports. Eating moringa was claimed to induce constipation as an isolated case in a coastal village, which agrees with the significant difference but contradicts the findings of previous research. Lilende (Corchorus aestuans) was mentioned as inducing diarrhea in coastal, semiurban, and urban children, supported by the literature as being vulnerable to contamination. The intake of poisonous tubers may increase the risk of diarrhea where it is not frequently eaten: Uwanga (Tacca leontopetaloides) and Angadi (Dioscorea cochleari-apiculata), where local knowledge of detoxication is lost. Robustness statistical analysis revealed that consumers of yam(p = 0.026)and Sufi (Rhodognaphalon schumannianum) seeds (p = 0.043) had relatively less diarrhea; thus, further research is needed.

Since its independence in 1963, Kenya has rapidly expanded school education with strong support from international organizations and Western countries. However, market-driven policies have widened educational disparities, leaving economically and geographically disadvantaged families behind. Despite these challenges, parents and teachers in such areas have shown increasing enthusiasm for education. Yet, little research has explicitly examined this enthusiasm.

This study explores the realities of educational enthusiasm among parents and teachers in rural areas and urban slums in Kenya, focusing on the role of schools in maintaining educational enthusiasm under difficult circumstances. Field work was conducted in Kibera, an urban slum in Nairobi, and a rural community in Machakos County for approximately five weeks in September 2023 and 2024. Participants included 19 teachers from a low-fee private school in Kibera and a public school in Machakos, as well as 15 parents from each school. Research methods involved participant observation and semistructured interviews.

Findings indicate that, despite difficulties caused by educational reforms, parents and teachers actively engaged in educational activities and demonstrated a remarkable level of commitment to school education. Their enthusiasm was found to include an awareness of a credential-oriented society but, more importantly, a strong desire to ensure a better future for their children. Furthermore, living in the same community fosters mutual support and altruistic behavior, reinforcing educational enthusiasm.

These results suggest that the educational enthusiasm of parents and teachers in disadvantaged regions stems from a community-oriented “passion” inspired by hope in the potential of education. Moreover, the presence of a “school as community,” which functions as a central node connecting teachers, parents, and children residing within the same community, strengthens mutual support networks among stakeholders. This, in turn, enables the sustained development of educational enthusiasm, even under adverse conditions.

In Bhutan, monastic education, continuing since the seventeenth century, and modern formal schooling, introduced in the 1960s, coexist independently. The former is administered by the Central Monastic Body, the latter by the Ministry of Education. This dual structure reflects Bhutan's unique dual system of polity (Chhoe-sid-nyi). Monastic education focuses on religious and ethical instruction in Classical Tibetan (Chöke). In a country where primary school enrolment exceeds 90%, children attending monastic education often come from disadvantaged backgrounds, including poverty, orphanhood, parental abandonment, or dropout from formal schooling. Without compulsory education and under separate jurisdictions, children lack opportunities to acquire knowledge, skills, and English, essential for Bhutan's socio-economic functions.

Monasteries function as a “safety net” and a site of “social inclusion,” while generating a “dilemma” by constraining future options. They occupy the “grey zone of education” (Sugimoto 2014), and although access to modern schooling is limited, “religious education” serves as a hidden barrier, obscuring accountability for the “right to education” (United Nations 1989). These children are termed “the second invisible children,” with a focus on the dilemmas they face.

This study has three objectives. First, to clarify the historical formation of the dual educational system and the institutional gap in state responsibility. Second, to analyse the educational conditions of monastic children against UN conventions on children, highlighting divergences between frameworks and practice. Third, through field research, to examine types of monastic education (Sato 2025a) and perceptions of monks, local communities, and teachers. Fieldwork from 2023 to 2024 confirmed disparities in access to modern education between state-supported Drukpa monasteries and others. Stakeholders' views were diverse. While welfare and educational roles of monasteries were valued, school authorities raised concerns over violations of children's right to education and the arbitrariness of educational outcomes. Implicit practices were observed in which villages encouraged impoverished families to place children in monasteries in exchange for economic support, sustaining village monasteries; for families, it reduced the economic burden, and for monasteries, it served as a recruitment mechanism for future monks. Balancing religious autonomy with children's access to essential education remains a central challenge in Bhutan.

Although the “Education for All (EFA)” trend has greatly improved people's access to education, it remains inadequate for vulnerable and marginalized populations. As a result of the quantitative expansion of primary education due to the universal education policy, there are serious concerns about the quality of education, including low completion rates due to lack of meaningful learning. Furthermore, enrollment rates for refugee children are only 65% in primary education, 42% in secondary education, and 7% in higher education respectively.

Although accepting more than 200,000 refugees, Malaysia has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention; therefore, refugees are treated as illegal workers, with no freedom of movement and no access to formal education, employment, and medical care. The learning centers (LCs) for refugee children are severely constrained financially due to lack of government support. Refugees, who have been displaced for protracted periods of time over generations, need access to quality education on a permanent basis, but the quality of education at such LCs is reported far below the minimum standards in emergency.

The study focused on how role models produced within the LCs can serve to complement its vulnerabilities. This study investigated the influence that teachers exert as role models on children, through a questionnaire survey of all LCs situated in Malay Peninsula, and interviews and participatory observations at six LCs in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur.

The results revealed that teachers as role models had the following aspects: 1) embodiment of diversity, 2) community solidarity, 3) hope for the children, 4) parental role, and 5) community representation. These perspectives are difficult to realize within Malaysian public schools. Rather than viewing the LCs as merely vulnerable, the study results can be presented as a form of sustainable educational development in terms of the self-help and mutual support needed to reduce dependence on humanitarian aid.

This study explores how friendship networks of Thai students, shaped by an ASEAN study-abroad program, affect their lives―a topic that has garnered increasing attention from higher education institutions in Thailand. The study investigated how Thai students' friendship networks affected their lives during an ASEAN study-abroad program through a web-based survey of former participants, followed by semi-structured interviews. Our findings indicate that individuals who share the same cultural background were likely to be their close friends. Moreover, the perceived problems and challenges related to cultural differences and the people encountered in ASEAN host countries were low, and the level of satisfaction was high among those within predominant bicultural friendship networks. The results from this study are discussed with reference to the uncertainty reduction theory and elaborated in terms of the general goal of the study-abroad program in ASEAN, targeting educators and policy makers from both sending and receiving educational institutions.