More foreign students than ever

The Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education recently convened over a government proposal to increase the number of foreign students in Japan to 300,000 by 2020। That plan is positive not only for students, schools and teachers, but also for Japan as a whole. This increased opening of Japanese education to foreign students is better late than never. The benefits are immense.

Japan was flooded with foreigners in the '80s and '90s। Many came on false documents and overstayed their visas. Those problems with foreign students are largely in the past. Nowadays, schools and immigration are better at managing the application process and focusing more on students in higher-level programs. Students these days have often already studied the Japanese language back home. While they might eventually also want to find work in Japan, they know the value of studying first. The programs and courses of study have improved tremendously in recent years.

Japanese schools are already well into a process of internationalizing, as more and more students from abroad arrive on campuses। These academic exchanges and casual contacts help to transform traditional mind-sets and outdated ways of thinking. However, the important counterpart to foreign students coming here is Japanese students going overseas. The number of students studying abroad has fallen in recent years, so high schools, universities and exchange programs need to encourage students more.

Many of the students who come to Japan are likely to stay and work in Japan, or find work that makes use of their Japanese-language, social and cultural skills। This, too, will be a tremendous benefit all around. After studying and experiencing Japanese culture firsthand, those who choose to stay will be quite different from the last generation that took hard physical labor jobs in factories. The exchange between foreign and Japanese students will prepare them for a future of internationalized workplaces and complex tasks.

Japan should welcome this plan and work toward its full realization। Its positive effects extend far beyond helping just individual students and school budgets. These ongoing educational exchanges can potentially establish a very different worldview for the next generation.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20090920a1.html

Vietnam strives for comprehensive education reform

The first conference of Vietnamese and Japanese university rectors took place in Hanoi on September 17, attracting more than 300 delegates from over 100 educational institutions in the two countries.

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training-cum-Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said Vietnam gives top priority to the development of high-quality human resources. The country has sought many ways to renovate its education sector, improve the quality of teaching, and link training with social demand, he said.

The sector has adopted national programmes to train thousands of doctoral degree holders and apply more than 1,500 electronic course books to tertiary teaching. It has also given preferential credit to poor students and higher autonomy to universities and colleges.

Vietnam is endeavouring to have five of its universities ranked among the world’s top 200 universities by 2020, and to this end, it needs, the minister stressed, assistance from advanced countries, including Japan.

Shigeharu Kato, a representative of the Japanese Ministry of Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, told the conference that his country is willing to share its experience and to cooperate with Vietnam in tertiary education. It will also create incentives for Vietnamese students and postgraduates to study in Japan.

The Japanese government has so far helped Vietnam build 256 primary schools in remote areas and raise the level of training and research at more than 100 Vietnamese colleges and universities.

In March 2008, the two countries’ Ministries of Education and Training signed a memorandum-of-understanding under which Japan will help Vietnam train 1,000 doctoral degree holders at Japanese universities from 2008-2010।
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Vietnam-strives-for-comprehensive-education-reform/20099/107930.vov

Japan's Waseda University opens bioscience institute in Singapore

SINGAPORE, Sept। 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Waseda University opened the Waseda Bioscience Research Institute in Singapore (WAIBOS) on Monday.

The WABIOS marks the first time that Waseda University is setting up research operations overseas independently।

WABIOS will focus its research in the areas of bio-imaging, bioengineering, biophysics and nano-biotechnology। It will also further develop the neuroscience, focused research findings derived from the Waseda-Olympus Bioscience Research Institute, a joint initiative between Waseda University and Olympus Corporation from 2004 to 2009, according to a statement by Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

WABIOS has committed 2 million Singapore dollars (1।4 million U.S. dollars) for its research activities here and will start with a few researchers from both Japan and Singapore.

President of Waseda University Katsuhiko Shirai and Chairman of A*STAR Lim Chuan Poh also signed on Monday a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) here at the opening of WABIOS।

The agreement aims to facilitate research collaborations between scientists from the two organizations through joint symposia and workshops as well as enable graduate students from Waseda University to spend up to 2 years at A*STAR research institutes during the course of their PhD studies under A*STAR's Research Attachment Program।
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/14/content_12049112.htm

Crisis puts universities on steep learning curve

The financial turmoil that originated in the United States last fall jolted educational institutions here across the Pacific, shaking the financial health of some universities and dashing the dreams of any number of parents.

In July, Keio University decided to postpone the opening of a new elementary and junior high school in Yokohama, to the dismay of parents who wished to enroll their children.

Enrollment in the affiliate school, slated to open in April 2011, was seen as a path for children into the prestigious university free from tough entrance examinations.

For the private university based in Tokyo, the addition of a new affiliate school was a key project to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1858. No new schedule has been set.

Keio was forced to halt the commemorative project after its investment portfolio--like that of many other private universities--was hit hard by the financial crisis.

Keio President Atsushi Seike said when he assumed the top post in May that he would "review all projects." The commemorative project was no exception.

As most major private universities released their financial data for the fiscal year that ended March 31, it was clear they were weighed down by heavy investment losses.

They are not just reviewing their means of asset management but curtailing or postponing projects, or dropping them altogether.

According to Keio's financial report, it suffered latent losses in stocks and other securities totaling 53.5 billion yen as of the end of fiscal 2008; of the total, it wrote off 16.9 billion yen as losses.

Its consumption statement of revenue and expenditure, which shows a school entity's financial conditions in a single year, showed a deficit of 26.9 billion yen for the fiscal year.

Latent losses not written off came to 36.5 billion yen, including 22.8 billion yen from investment trusts and 3.6 billion yen from derivatives. The total was up sharply from 22.5 billion yen at the end of fiscal 2007.

Criticism of such asset management has been smoldering within Keio.

Masahiko Shimizu, a vice president who took charge of financial affairs and accounting in late May, said the school will change its means of asset management.

"We must seriously reflect on our failure to cope with the (market) moves last year," Shimizu said.

"We will review our portfolio and management regulations in the direction of reducing the ratio of high-risk financial products."

Sophia University in Tokyo similarly reported latent losses of 11.8 billion yen, of which it wrote off 8 billion yen as appraisal losses. Its fiscal 2008 deficit was 8.4 billion yen, bringing the accumulated deficit to 9.4 billion yen.

Komazawa University's debacle in derivatives trading, which made headlines late last year by incurring 15.4 billion yen in losses, underlines the extent of the blow from the financial crisis.

Having other investment losses as well, the Buddhist university in Tokyo wrote off appraisal losses totaling 6.5 billion yen and reported a deficit of 22.9 billion yen for fiscal 2008.

Its accumulated deficit came to 31.1 billion yen.

The balance sheet showed the school's assets fell by 7.6 billion yen from a year ago, while debts rose by 12.2 billion yen as a result of borrowing to help cover the losses.

Its net assets, or assets minus debts, came to 51.9 billion yen, a drop of 19.9 billion yen from the previous year.

According to Komazawa's internal documents, it refinanced 12.4 billion yen in loans for longer terms. Of the total, 7 billion yen was extended by Mizuho Bank, with the repayment dates set for 2015 to 2018. Its outstanding debt was 19.8 billion yen as of the end of March.

"It will likely face considerable funding difficulties given the burden of repayment each year," said an investment advisory analyst.

"Unless it takes drastic reform measures, such as selling assets, it may be difficult to rebuild school facilities or carry out new projects," the analyst said.

Seijiro Kobayashi, the university's general affairs chief, acknowledges the management difficulties it faces.

"We are studying how we will repay (the debts)," he said. "First, we will curtail costs."

An investigative panel compiled a report on what went wrong late last year. The university dismissed its chief director, and also made other officials in charge of accounting resign.

Its new president has pledged a re-examination of the problems; a new report by an external panel is due soon.

Many other private universities reported latent losses in the fiscal year.

Kenji Uno, chief senior analyst at the Daiwa Institute of Research's public policy research department, says those schools should have been more cautious.

"Even at a regional bank, 20 to 30 people are engaged in asset management activities, but private universities assign only several people, who have other duties as well," Uno said.

"Despite that, they expect high returns.

"Asset management by private universities, whose funds come from tuition and subsidies, must be done on a steady basis as a basic rule."

The education ministry in January sent notices to all educational corporations calling for caution in the management of their assets.

The ministry also called on them to draw up internal rules on types of financial products and ceilings for investment as well as a system to keep tabs on their portfolio conditions.

Public accountants and other experts also point to the need for university entities to have better information disclosure about their financial conditions.

An education ministry survey last fall found only 72 percent of the entities release business reports separately from their financial results.

Keio and a small number of other universities make public the types of securities they hold, but they are exceptions.

According to the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a survey of the fiscal 2006 business reports released by 296 entities showed 46 percent stopped short of reporting details of their financial results.

In February, the institute released a model for university business reports to encourage education entities to have better disclosure.

The model gives a wide range of examples of detailed reports, from market values of securities and debts to yearly changes of accounting ratios, which show the entities' financial strength.

"University corporations, which are of a highly public nature, must fulfill accountability to the society," said Keiko Sano, an executive board member of the institute.

"They should pursue better information disclosure by, for example, setting unified standards (for financial reports)," she said।(IHT/Asahi: September 2,2009)

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200909020043.html