For several years, K. International School Tokyo has offered a Model United Nations (MUN) club as part of its after-school activities program for students in its secondary school. KIST also hosts an MUN scrimmage in January each year which is open to international schools from Tokyo and surrounding areas.
Furthering its interest in the MUN, eighteen students from grades 10 through 12, accompanied by three teachers, visited Seoul in November to attend a Model United Nations event known as SEOMUN. KIST was one of only two schools representing Japan at the event which was open to schools from around the world.
During the event, students were divided into a number of committees, and each member was allocated as a delegate to represent a different country. The committees were given a number of issues to discuss and to propose resolutions. Committees included those for human rights, general assembly, economic and social council, environment council, and security council.
For KIST students, this was their first time to attend a large scale international MUN event and the opportunity provided invaluable experience in developing greater confidence in expressing themselves in front of large groups of people. As one grade 10 student commented: “At first I was very hesitant and terrified since I doubted myself and was scared of being attacked by other countries, but as time went by, I became more confident and open to sharing my thoughts.”
K. International School Tokyo is an IB World School fully authorized to offer the PYP, MYP and DP. It is located one minute from Kiyosumi-Shirakawa station in Koto-ku.
