Kumon and SDGs
To eliminate poverty globally and realize a sustainable world, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, establishing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets.
Kumon believes education changes the world. By developing people through individualized education, Kumon aims to contribute to global society and to further world peace.
We strive to help people throughout the world to discover their own potential, to maximize their ability, and to contribute globally to solving social problems through Kumon education.
What we value: For the children and people of all generations who encounter Kumon
Kumon Centers in Japan and overseas
Since Kumon’s foundation, more than 10 million people have studied with Kumon in Japan and in over 60 countries and regions. We have heard from many of them, who are taking active roles in their fields, that the qualities they gained from their Kumon study have been very useful in their current jobs, activities, and lives. This includes high basic academic ability, the ability to think on one’s own, and an attitude of perseverance.
All Kumon Centers worldwide wish to contribute positively to the lives of the children and people of all generations who encounter Kumon and the SDGs so that they can make their own way in life.
Establishing a diverse society where we can live together and support each other
Learning Therapy and Healthy Brain Centers: Addressing issues in an aging society
Kumon provides learning therapy for senior citizens with dementia, aiming to support their independent lives through the maintenance and improvement of their brain function. Kumon also has Healthy Brain Centers that look to prevent dementia among healthy senior citizens.
Learning therapy is mainly used in nursing care facilities, while Healthy Brain Centers are organized primarily by local governments and NPOs and operated communally by the people of each community. Learning therapy (SAIDO Learning®） has also been practiced at facilities in the United States since 2011. Our goal is to contribute to building a community in which senior citizens can energetically lead independent lives with a smile and with peace of mind.
SAIDO Learning® / Learning for a Healthy Brain Centers
Activities at facilities for persons with disabilities: Developing human resources in a diverse society
Kumon also works on human resource development, hoping to help children and adults with disabilities live the happy lives they desire. Thus, the Kumon program is provided not only in Kumon Centers but also in child development support centers, afterschool daycare services, facilities for transition support for employment, and corporate training programs. Together with parents and adult guardians, Kumon is daily striving to realize a diverse society where we can live together and support one another by partnering with these facilities and corporations.
Education for Children and Adults with Special Needs
The Kumon Method for as many people as possible: Aiming to realize sustainable educational support
Collaboration with BRAC: Working to provide the Kumon Method to every corner of the earth
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of the Bangladesh NGO BRAC requested that the Kumon program be implemented in BRAC Schools run by BRAC that offer education free of charge to children from low-income households. Receiving the request, Kumon launched a collaboration project with JICA, JETRO, and the University of Tokyo in 2015.
In 2019, Kumon signed a license agreement with BRAC and BRAC Kumon Limited (BKL), founded by BRAC. We plan to use the profits from Kumon Centers run by BKL for students from middle- to high-income households to enable the low-income children of BRAC Schools to study with Kumon free of charge. As such, we are working to provide sustainable educational support to children from low-income families.
Providing high-quality education
Maximizing every individual’s potential: Improvement of learning materials and instructional methods
Company founder Toru Kumon used to frequently say, “Education doesn’t mean forcing feet to fit into shoes but, rather, to make shoes that fit the feet.” Kumon is an individualized learning method with study materials that progresses in small steps to help students learn on their own at the “just-right” level for the ability of each student. The number of study repetitions is also set individually according to each student’s mastery level. The role of Kumon Instructors is thus to properly assess each student’s mastery and ability. The learning materials and instruction method enable anyone, from preschoolers to senior citizens, to study using the Kumon Method.
Aiming to provide high-quality education and to help every person maximize his or her potential, Kumon materials are continuously updated based on the learning results of many students. Instructors also keep researching the instruction method through daily training worldwide.
The Kumon Method and Its Strengths
Kumon: the organization that never stops learning
Preservation efforts for the global environment
Every person living on earth should apply their wisdom and efforts to solving global environmental issues. Kumon considers the preservation of the global environment to be a management task that it must tackle and focuses on initiatives promoting forest preservation.
As one of these activities, we contribute to environmental preservation with external partners. For example, we support the forest preservation activities of WWF Japan and make donations using “green points,” which we gain by reducing paper usage through online reporting and ordering items, and the forestation activities of Present Tree organized by the NPO Environmental Relations Research Center. In addition, within the Kumon Group we collectively strive to save energy and resources, and to recycle by using environmentally friendly paper for copy paper, business cards, and company envelopes.
Kumon's Environmental Activities
Forestation by Present Tree in Fuefuki City in Yamanashi
Learn and deepen your understanding of SDGs: A book introducing SDGs that parents and children can read and study together
Learning about SDGs with a Comedian for Readers from the Age of 13 (in Japanese)
To help children deepen their understanding of the SDGs, Kumon Publishing has published Learning about SDGs with a Comedian for Readers from the Age of 13 written by Nana Takamatsu. The book is based on lessons from the author, which have been well received at corporations, local governments, and schools. It is a book introducing the SDGs that parents and children can read and study together.
