Sentan Nursery Room Children's Hour（2022/10/27）

A Sentan Nursery Room Children's Hour was held by the Center for International Students and Scholars (CISS) and the Gender Equality Promotion Office on October 27th so that international students, researchers and their families can gather on campus to talk, exchange information and let children play together. Six families of international students and researchers (17 people in total) participated in this hour-long event where both the parents and their children talked and played, getting to know each other and talking about life in Japan, etc.

The event opened with Mr. Robert King (UEA, CISS) explaining the purpose of the event and introducing CISS and its staff. Following this, all the staff and participants took turns introducing themselves and their children, and the children began investigating the Sentan Nursery Room and what it had to offer. Later, Ms. Nikaido (UEA, Gender Equality Promotion Office) explained how to use the Sentan Nursery Room, which is equipped with a kitchen and bathroom, bedding and toys for different ages. The children found toys and other things they were interested in and parents were able to relax and talk a little knowing the environment is child-friendly. NAIST staff moved around the room to talk with all the participants about child-raising and if they had any issues they wanted to talk about. There were questions about children's vaccinations, babysitter services and campus facilities, so we feel that this kind of event may be a beneficial in stimulating communication for families and the NAIST administration as well.

There are already calls to hold this kind of event regularly, so we will collect opinions from the participants to improve it while attracting new participants to expand this small family network and support students and researchers work-life balance efforts. If you are interested in participating please contact CISS. (ciss[at]ad.naist.jp)