Kumon vision: from maths and language studies to world peace

Kumon is the name of a father whose fervent desire was to let his son have the opportunity to enjoy his years in high school. Today the whole world knows the name.

'It's never just about the name,' said Hiroshi Kumon, former chairman of Kumon. 'It's also about the revolutionary style, the universal quality of the materials, and the ease with which children can achieve success and confidence through the method. And it is about the extent to which friends and families have taken to it. It is about a real child being the focal point of our activities.'

Kumon was founded by Toru Kumon in 1958 in Japan. Today, it has more than 3.85 million students worldwide, making it one of the biggest mathematics and language learning centres in the world. Kumon Hong Kong was established in 1988.

It was Toru Kumon's wish to contribute to world peace by giving as many children as possible the opportunity to develop their potential through the Kumon Method.

Kinichiro Yoshida, managing director of Kumon Hong Kong, said it wanted to help students to develop life skills, which the group defines as the ability to 'live life happily and to the fullest, with dreams and goals, with a willingness to face challenges and to continue to try new things proactively and enthusiastically'. Mr Yoshida said Kumon helped its students to become intelligent and good-natured people. 'Thus they can contribute to the society and help achieve world peace after completing our programmes,' he said.

Kumon doesn't only have idealistic dreams; it has concrete plans to actualise its ambition.