KUMON CONVENTION CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF HELPING CHILDREN ACROSS THE GLOBE
Click Here To Request a free Kumon Educational Franchise Pack
2008 marks the 50th anniversary for education provider Kumon - one of the leading after-school education providers that helps over four million children around the world to reach their potential, in 46 countries. This means that every minute of every single day, one child somewhere in the world is improving their skills with Kumon.2008 has been a year of celebration with special activities and events taking place throughout the calendar year. The year of celebration culminated in a two-day special event consisting of a series of conferences and a grand event which was held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on 6 and 7 December 2008.
Kumon Instructors, staff, students and parents from across the globe all came together in one place to celebrate the success of Kumon over the last fifty years, and to look ahead to the future. The conferences on Saturday 6 December gave the opportunity for learning, skill sharing and development, whereas the grand event the following day provided an opportunity to celebrate and showcase successful Kumon students and Kumon practice.
At the grand event, renowned Japanese opera singer Shinobu Sato took to the stage accompanied by composer Takayuki Hattori to perform the Kumon song to an audience of 13,000 people. Former Kumon students inspired the audience by telling their personal stories and explaining how they had applied the Kumon method in their adult lives in order to achieve success in their chosen professions and further studies.
Former Kumon student and qualified doctor from Hong Kong, Wong Cheuk Lik spoke at the grand event and said:
“I can honestly say that I use the skills I acquired through studying Kumon every day of my working life. As a doctor I see many patients whose symptoms need be carefully investigated and I use the analytical skills I learnt through Kumon to diagnose and treat my patients. Kumon has definitely helped to get me where I am today and I am truly grateful.”
The Kumon method of learning was developed in 1954 by Toru Kumon, both a parent and gifted teacher from Japan. Like any parent, Toru wanted the best for his son and began devising a teaching method using worksheets in the core subject of maths. Soon word spread of the success of his method and now in 2008, there are approximately 54,000 students studying Kumon at 600 study centres across the UK and Ireland with over four million students studying worldwide.
Akio Hossono, Kumon Regional General Manager for Europe and Africa said:
“This year has been very special for Kumon and has seen some new and exciting developments within the organisation. We aim to build on our successes in 2009, always keeping in mind, and at the forefront of everything we do that what we care about most is each individual child and making Kumon available to as many children as possible.”
