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Japan plans G8 education ministers' meeting in April

TOKYO: Japan will hold a meeting of education ministers from Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations in April ahead of the Okinawa summit in July, Jiji Press news agency reported on Sunday.

The meeting will take place in Tokyo and will be the first gathering of G8 ministers in charge of education matters.

It is aimed at discussing education issues facing the eight nations, including unruly students, child use of drugs and measures to improve the quality of teachers, Jiji said.

Japan's government will formally decided on the meeting as early as this month after arranging the agenda with the other countries, the agency added.

Japan is to host a G8 summit from July 21 to 23, in the southern Japan island of Okinawa.

The summit follows a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) economic powers on July 8 in Fukuoka, on the main southern island of Kyushu, and foreign ministers' meeting from July 12 to 13, in Miyazaki, also on Kyushu island.

The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Russia has been party to the summit since 1997, making it the G8, except for talks on global economic problems. AFP