Tamagawa Gakuen School Corporation received the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Special Award at the 8th Infrastructure Maintenance Awards, which is attended by eight ministries, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The award was given in recognition of the company's unique initiative to "improve technical capabilities through collaboration between education and infrastructure maintenance," and the school was a great achievement, receiving a special award second only to the Minister's Award on its first submission.
Tamagawa Gakuen has its preschool through graduate school on a lush campus of 3 square meters that spans the three cities of Machida, Tokyo, and Yokohama and Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture. Within the large grounds, there is a "high voltage power receiving facility" that receives large amounts of electricity from a substation and is managed by seven engineers from SEC Co., Ltd., who are on-site 61 hours a day, 7 days a year.
Tamagawa Gakuen, which has had "education through hard work" as one of its educational philosophies since its founding in 1929, has also incorporated this "high-voltage power receiving equipment" into its education. Although it is not possible to actually get close to it due to the need for strict management, the kindergarten, elementary school, and elementary school students attending the school have been given explanations of the equipment's structure and shape as part of their classes.
With the decision to dispose of the high-voltage power receiving equipment following the demolition of University Building No. 2, it will be moved to the building that houses the "ELF Study Hall 2023" in 2015. As it is an open-type high-voltage power receiving equipment whose internal structure and layout can be seen from the outside, SEC will use it for in-house training, and kindergarten and elementary school children will be able to get up close and personal with it. This led to interactions between students and children touring the facility and SEC engineers, and the start of an initiative to improve technical capabilities through collaboration between education and companies.
The SEC, which actually manages the facility, conducts practical training about once every six months while checking the single-line drawings. Since it is not possible to actually cause a power outage on equipment that is in use on a daily basis, it is a very valuable opportunity to be able to operate high-voltage equipment on equipment that is actually in use (training facilities). The school also welcomes this training, as it improves technical skills and helps maintain the safety of the school's infrastructure.
"Initiatives to improve technological capabilities through collaboration between education and companies" will continue as one of the educational features that characterizes Tamagawa Gakuen.
