Enjoy this short video snippet about Osaka Gakugei Canadian International School from our 2024 Expo.
Transcript
Osaka Gakugei Canadian International School (OGCIS)
ISTimes Global: (00:00) Hi, I’m Ivan Federoff here. We’re here with uh Wataru here with OGCIS. And uh what does OGCIS uh stand for?
Osaka Gakugei Canadian International School (OGCIS): (00:07) So OGCIS stands for Osaka Gakugei Canadian International School.
ISTimes Global: (00:11) Oh, excellent. So, uh how is it uh connected to uh Canada? Is it uh the teachers are Canadian or the program is?
OGCIS: (00:21) So yeah, so not only are our teachers being Canadian, but we’re a uh certified offshore school from British Columbia Ministry of Education. So we’re basically the same Canadian school that’s operating offshore in Japan.
ISTimes Global: (00:32) Oh, I see. Uh what are the benefits of uh having a program like that here? Uh do you still follow the Japanese uh curriculum?
OGCIS: (00:42) So we do follow um the Japanese curriculum, but we also follow the British Columbia uh educational curriculum. So we’re double diploma school. And uh when kids graduate from our school, they get both the Japanese high school graduation certificate and a BC Dogwood diploma. So they have two graduation certificates.
ISTimes Global: (01:00) Oh, that’s actually, that’s actually quite interesting because very, very few uh schools actually do that. Uh do you find that uh the interest of the families coming to the school is to eventually go to school in Canada or do you find that most of the families that come to your school uh are interested in going to universities here?
OGCIS: (01:22) So, um I think looking at uh the numbers of our students, we’re not in a very big school at the moment, but we are growing every year. Uh most of the students are Japanese, so they tend to, you know, stay within Japan when they graduate. Um but we are getting um a growing number of international students and some, you know, Japanese kids also want to go abroad. So we do have kids that have graduated and went into Canadian universities, but also other universities around the world like America, Switzerland, Australia.
ISTimes Global: (01:52) I see. Now, doing a double program sounds like longer hours and more days. Is is uh is a typical school year or a uh school uh week longer for your uh for your kids or?
OGCIS: (02:08) Uh so it does sound like a lot, but not actually because um so 60% of our uh curriculum is in English. It’s under the international school and the rest of the 40 is under the whole school. Um but there are some classes that we grant equivalencies to each other. So some Japanese classes such as like physical education, things like that, we can grant uh credits for the Japanese side and the uh Canadian side and vice versa. So in total, it’s not um a lot as people think it might sound.
ISTimes Global: (02:40) Okay, I see. So does uh does your school have an April start, March end, or do you have an August start, June end?
OGCIS: (02:48) Uh so we do uh fall in that sense, we do follow the Japanese Ministry of Education curriculum system. So we do start in April and end March.
ISTimes Global: (02:56) I see. Okay, great. Well, um I you said it was a a small school, but I I heard you have some very interesting uh uh extra school activities. Could uh uh you please tell us about some of them?
OGCIS: (03:10) Absolutely. So, we are international school within our whole school. So our whole school is Osaka Gakugei Senior High School. Um, and I think in total we have about 1800 students in the whole school. Um, we’re just one part of it and we currently have about 50-ish students. Um, so we’re a small school within the whole school, but extracurricular activities we do as a whole entire school. So we do have like strong karate clubs that just won, you know, world championships. Um, and uh soccer teams that play for professional women’s soccer league as well. And uh volleyball, basketball, all all kinds of sports. Breast band is also strong. And our students that go to this international school are also free to join those activities with the whole school.
ISTimes Global: (03:56) That’s excellent. Uh Now, this part of the program has only been around I think four or five years.
OGCIS: (04:02) So we’re on six year right now.
ISTimes Global: (04:03) Uh six year. So you’ve had your first uh graduates last year, I believe.
OGCIS: (04:09) Also our first though, uh so this uh March, March 2023.
ISTimes Global: (04:15) This March would be your first
OGCIS: (04:15) 2024, we had our third batch of graduates.
ISTimes Global: (04:18) Oh, oh, great. (04:20) And um did what do you think that these kids once they leave your school? What is uh what’s the experience that you think that they will just remember?
OGCIS: (04:31) Um so if you look around, you know, Japan, there’s not a lot of school as you mentioned that I do have double diploma. Um what’s very unique is that they have um a full experience of what it is to be like an international school in Japan, but they also get an experience of what a traditional Japanese high school is like. And um a lot of students, you know, like to come back and visit the teachers and uh visit the school for like events. And um they drop by, let us know about their experience and um post-secondary. Um but yeah, they say that, you know, the experience of being it’s almost like a parallel world where they’re in the Japanese society and the international society, which is kind of unique. They get to do all kinds of events um that are Canadian related and Japanese related. So that’s what they take most from the school, I think.
ISTimes Global: (05:16) That’s actually uh quite interesting because one of the things I hear about parents uh who send their kids to international school is that they feel sometimes it’s like a bubble uh and they’re not really connected to the actual community. But yours seems quite integrated. That’s uh quite interesting. It’s uh sounds like a school I would really like to visit someday. Uh thank you so much.
OGCIS: (05:38) Thank you.
About Osaka Gakugei Canadian International School
- Official name: Osaka Gakugei Canadian International School
- Offers double diploma (Japanese high school certificate + BC Dogwood diploma)
- Follows both Japanese and British Columbia curricula
- 60% English instruction, 40% Japanese instruction
- Part of larger Osaka Gakugei Senior High School (1800 students total)
- Strong extracurricular programs including championship karate and soccer teams
- Unique integrated international/Japanese school experience
