300 students including Chinese and Japanese expected to join program every year
Major universities in South Korea, China and Japan will launch a joint degree program next year as part of efforts to expand academic exchanges, the Education Ministry said Sunday.
The Education Ministry and the Korean Council for University Education announced 10 South Korean colleges and universities chosen to partner with Chinese and Japanese universities under the Campus Asia program.
The program is an Asian version of the Erasmus Mundus, which enables students to earn joint degrees from at least three different higher education institutions in EU member countries.
The 10 Korean universities include Seoul National University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, POSTECH, KAIST, Dongseo University and Pusan National University.
The program is a follow-up to an agreement made by the leaders of Korea, China and Japan to increase exchanges among their universities at the end of their summit meeting on Jeju Island last May.
Since then, the ministry has formed 10 consortia consisting of three partner universities, one from each country. It expects to complete the administrative process by the end of the year before accepting students from next year, according to ministry officials.
SNU, Peking University and University of Tokyo have formed a consortium on the master’s degree level in the academic fields of public policy and international relations. They are working on ways to give students dual or multiple degrees if they complete a one-year course at each school.
In the consortium of Dongseo University in Korea, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China and Ritsumeikan University in Japan, students will be able to take classes at the three different schools for a semester and seize internship opportunities before graduation.
A combined 300 students in Korea, China and Japan, with 100 students from each country, are expected to participate in the Campus Asia program every year.
The Education Ministry and the Korean Council for University Education will provide the chosen Korean universities with 124 million won ($112,000) in student exchanges expenses and about 100 million won in program development costs per consortium from next year to 2015.
Korean students participating in the Campus Asia program will get 800,000 won ($725) roundtrip flight tickets and a minimum in monthly living expenses of 800,000 to 900,000 for a one-year stay. They will have to pay tuition to their Korean schools alone.
With the project development fund, schools will be able to hire teaching assistants, draw up curricula or operate language programs, according to the ministry.
Eight Chinese universities participating in the program include Peking, Tsinghua, Fudan and Jilin universities. University of Tokyo, Kobe University, Ritsumeikan University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagoya University are among the 10 Japanese institutions taking part.
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111030000213
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Japan is moving to modernise its universities and confront globalisation head on
JAPAN's universities - assailed by claims that have failed to cope with globalisation - are moving to boost their international competitiveness and appeal.
The university sector here shrugs off industry complaints that it is not generating graduates who can be deployed outside Japan.
But nevertheless big changes are happening as campuses try to boost foreign student numbers and offer more courses in English.
Although Japan boasts some world-class universities, its top performer, the University of Tokyo, has a rank of just 30 on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
That’s arguably too low for a country that is the world’s third-largest economy and a centre of innovation responsible for more patents per capita than any other nation.
In an interview with the HES in Tokyo, the vice president of Waseda University, Katsuichi Uchida, said criticisms from industry were not new and, to an extent, were unjustified.
“Of course we understand the importance of collaboration between universities and industries, but their way of thinking, I am sorry to say, is too narrow,’’ he said.
Professor Uchida said producing globally competitive graduates was important not just to feed the hungry maws of Japan’s trading companies, but to tackle major problems including global warming and food shortages.
Japan’s tertiary education system sees students selected by universities via entrance exams and then streamed into various undergraduate courses that are heavy on theory and collaborative practical work, but light on those activities focused on developing critical faculties.
The result, according to the system’s critics, is graduates suited to niche roles in Japanese workplaces instead of linguistically and culturally competent generalists that can expand Japan’s interests abroad in the modern world.
Although Waseda, a private university, trails Japan’s big public universities on world rankings, both it and Tokyo’s Sophia University are at the forefront of the movement towards internationalisation.
Mr Uchida said that just as in Japanese society, learning in Japan has been focused on collaboratively aiming for consensus or harmony through discussion.
“This kind of system has been unique to Japan,’’ he said. “For the last 30, 40, 50 years this kind of education system has been one key factor behind the success of Japanese corporations because, as you know, Japanese corporations emphasise the importance of a group orientated management style.’’
But times have changed for Japan as the nation realises it cannot depend on domestic demand for economic survival and must once again thrust itself out into the world.
Japanese corporations are embarking on a buying spree acquiring foreign subsidiaries throughout Asia and Australia and turning to universities to provide the staff to help run them.
While the companies complain they can’t find enough of the kind of graduates they need, the situation is better than it used to be.
The government’s Global 30 program, launched in 2008, is aimed at attracting 300,000 foreign students to Japan by encouraging 13 universities – including Tokyo, Kyoto and Waseda and Sophia – to become centres for international education.
Professor Uchida says Waseda launched its school of international studies in 2004 in anticipation of the direction things were heading and now has six faculties teaching in English.
“In that school we take 600 students – two thirds are Japanese, one third are foreign. All courses are taught in English and all these students are required to spend a year in another country to study,’’ he said.
“Nowadays this is a kind of a model for the development of undergraduate education programs at Waseda.”
He said the university was turning its focus to Chinese students and students from other parts of Asia where Japanese companies are increasingly basing many of their production facilities to capitalise on cheaper labour.
Waseda now has 4000 foreign students of which 40 per cent are Chinese and 20 per cent South Korean.
“When you are on Waseda’s campus you will hear students speaking in Chinese, Korean, English and Japanese. Through this kind of environment, Japanese students now recognise diverse cultural backgrounds and languages,’’ he said.
“The purpose for us in receiving international students is not just to educate those students, but also Japanese students.”
Tokyo University has just flagged starting a September entrance system – to be aligned with the US academic calendar - and its president has emphasised the importance of globalisation of universities in recent speeches.
Professor Uchida said the attitude was changing across the sector with universities recruiting foreign students and changing to a more global curriculum and internationally recognised teaching methods.
“We have been the forerunner, but these days the other universities recognise the importance of globalisation,” he said.
“We now understand the importance of liberal arts education to nurture critical ways of thinking. We are now developing small classes and during classes we emphasise the importance of discussion between students and faculty members.
The president of Sophia University – a Jesuit established institution that has been at the forefront of internationalised education in Japan - said industry’s complaints about the sector were not necessarily valid.
President Tadashi Takizawa said universities had to teach students broad concepts and ethics as well as their core skills, and if employers wanted strictly vocationally orientated skills they could look for staff trained in technical or language colleges.
But he also acknowledged the sector could have done more in the past to forge linkages with industry.
He said Sophia, which is a small university by Japanese standards, had more than 700 foreign students and was increasingly turning its eyes from West to East with a view to attracting students from other parts of Asia.
Foreign student numbers in Japan have almost tripled since the year 2000, with the current total standing about almost 142,000. However, that’s still small even when compared to Australia, which has more than 200,000 foreign students enrolled in higher education courses each year.
Japanese inventor and academic Shuji Nakamura – the inventor of the blue laser that integral to DVD, CD and Blu-ray players – said Japanese universities still had a huge leap to make to catch up to their US counterparts.
Professor Nakamura, who abandoned Japan in disgust over the secrecy and hierarchical structure of the company where he did his research, said Japan’s education system was geared to simply preparing pupils for the university entrance exam and little else.
The University of California professor said Japan’s students needed to be taught how to conduct presentations, construct and write papers, particularly in English, and universities needed to allow students to challenge and debate their teachers.
“In American universities, there is no strict hierarchical relationship. At our meetings we can’t even see who is the professor and who is the student,’’ he said.
“Whereas at a Japanese university, the professor is the emperor and the rest are like slaves. The atmosphere is so different.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/rise-of-the-dragon/japan-is-moving-to-modernise-its-universities-and-confront-globalisation-head-on/story-fnama19w-1226175474637
The university sector here shrugs off industry complaints that it is not generating graduates who can be deployed outside Japan.
But nevertheless big changes are happening as campuses try to boost foreign student numbers and offer more courses in English.
Although Japan boasts some world-class universities, its top performer, the University of Tokyo, has a rank of just 30 on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
That’s arguably too low for a country that is the world’s third-largest economy and a centre of innovation responsible for more patents per capita than any other nation.
In an interview with the HES in Tokyo, the vice president of Waseda University, Katsuichi Uchida, said criticisms from industry were not new and, to an extent, were unjustified.
“Of course we understand the importance of collaboration between universities and industries, but their way of thinking, I am sorry to say, is too narrow,’’ he said.
Professor Uchida said producing globally competitive graduates was important not just to feed the hungry maws of Japan’s trading companies, but to tackle major problems including global warming and food shortages.
Japan’s tertiary education system sees students selected by universities via entrance exams and then streamed into various undergraduate courses that are heavy on theory and collaborative practical work, but light on those activities focused on developing critical faculties.
The result, according to the system’s critics, is graduates suited to niche roles in Japanese workplaces instead of linguistically and culturally competent generalists that can expand Japan’s interests abroad in the modern world.
Although Waseda, a private university, trails Japan’s big public universities on world rankings, both it and Tokyo’s Sophia University are at the forefront of the movement towards internationalisation.
Mr Uchida said that just as in Japanese society, learning in Japan has been focused on collaboratively aiming for consensus or harmony through discussion.
“This kind of system has been unique to Japan,’’ he said. “For the last 30, 40, 50 years this kind of education system has been one key factor behind the success of Japanese corporations because, as you know, Japanese corporations emphasise the importance of a group orientated management style.’’
But times have changed for Japan as the nation realises it cannot depend on domestic demand for economic survival and must once again thrust itself out into the world.
Japanese corporations are embarking on a buying spree acquiring foreign subsidiaries throughout Asia and Australia and turning to universities to provide the staff to help run them.
While the companies complain they can’t find enough of the kind of graduates they need, the situation is better than it used to be.
The government’s Global 30 program, launched in 2008, is aimed at attracting 300,000 foreign students to Japan by encouraging 13 universities – including Tokyo, Kyoto and Waseda and Sophia – to become centres for international education.
Professor Uchida says Waseda launched its school of international studies in 2004 in anticipation of the direction things were heading and now has six faculties teaching in English.
“In that school we take 600 students – two thirds are Japanese, one third are foreign. All courses are taught in English and all these students are required to spend a year in another country to study,’’ he said.
“Nowadays this is a kind of a model for the development of undergraduate education programs at Waseda.”
He said the university was turning its focus to Chinese students and students from other parts of Asia where Japanese companies are increasingly basing many of their production facilities to capitalise on cheaper labour.
Waseda now has 4000 foreign students of which 40 per cent are Chinese and 20 per cent South Korean.
“When you are on Waseda’s campus you will hear students speaking in Chinese, Korean, English and Japanese. Through this kind of environment, Japanese students now recognise diverse cultural backgrounds and languages,’’ he said.
“The purpose for us in receiving international students is not just to educate those students, but also Japanese students.”
Tokyo University has just flagged starting a September entrance system – to be aligned with the US academic calendar - and its president has emphasised the importance of globalisation of universities in recent speeches.
Professor Uchida said the attitude was changing across the sector with universities recruiting foreign students and changing to a more global curriculum and internationally recognised teaching methods.
“We have been the forerunner, but these days the other universities recognise the importance of globalisation,” he said.
“We now understand the importance of liberal arts education to nurture critical ways of thinking. We are now developing small classes and during classes we emphasise the importance of discussion between students and faculty members.
The president of Sophia University – a Jesuit established institution that has been at the forefront of internationalised education in Japan - said industry’s complaints about the sector were not necessarily valid.
President Tadashi Takizawa said universities had to teach students broad concepts and ethics as well as their core skills, and if employers wanted strictly vocationally orientated skills they could look for staff trained in technical or language colleges.
But he also acknowledged the sector could have done more in the past to forge linkages with industry.
He said Sophia, which is a small university by Japanese standards, had more than 700 foreign students and was increasingly turning its eyes from West to East with a view to attracting students from other parts of Asia.
Foreign student numbers in Japan have almost tripled since the year 2000, with the current total standing about almost 142,000. However, that’s still small even when compared to Australia, which has more than 200,000 foreign students enrolled in higher education courses each year.
Japanese inventor and academic Shuji Nakamura – the inventor of the blue laser that integral to DVD, CD and Blu-ray players – said Japanese universities still had a huge leap to make to catch up to their US counterparts.
Professor Nakamura, who abandoned Japan in disgust over the secrecy and hierarchical structure of the company where he did his research, said Japan’s education system was geared to simply preparing pupils for the university entrance exam and little else.
The University of California professor said Japan’s students needed to be taught how to conduct presentations, construct and write papers, particularly in English, and universities needed to allow students to challenge and debate their teachers.
“In American universities, there is no strict hierarchical relationship. At our meetings we can’t even see who is the professor and who is the student,’’ he said.
“Whereas at a Japanese university, the professor is the emperor and the rest are like slaves. The atmosphere is so different.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/rise-of-the-dragon/japan-is-moving-to-modernise-its-universities-and-confront-globalisation-head-on/story-fnama19w-1226175474637
Friday, October 14, 2011
Free trip aims to reassure intl students
The education ministry plans to invite 150 foreign university students who are interested in studying in Japan to join free "trial study trips" to this nation, it was learned Wednesday.
The about-two-week trips, which will include visits to areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake, were conceived as a response to the trend of foreign students canceling plans to study in Japan since the March 11 disaster.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to invite 150 students from resource-rich countries--including some in the Middle East--as well as the United States and European countries, where interest in nuclear power issues is high, according to ministry sources.
According to the ministry, of 5,600 foreign students who were scheduled to study in Japan this year, 600 canceled their plans.
The ministry has allocated 100 million yen to the program in a third fiscal 2011 supplementary budget, which is to be submitted to the next extraordinary Diet session. After the budget is passed by the Diet, the program will be implemented.
The program will enable the foreign students to converse with local government officials involved in reconstruction efforts in disaster-hit areas, shop owners, and members and officials of fishery cooperatives and nonprofit organizations. The program will also likely include exchanges with Japanese university students, the sources said.
The ministry hopes the foreign students who take part in the program will see that progress is being made toward bringing the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control, and that studying in Japan thus involves no safety concerns, the sources explained.
The ministry expects that after the students return home, they will provide others in their countries with accurate information by reporting on what they saw and heard in Japan, the sources said.
(Oct. 13, 2011)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111012006453.htm
The about-two-week trips, which will include visits to areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake, were conceived as a response to the trend of foreign students canceling plans to study in Japan since the March 11 disaster.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to invite 150 students from resource-rich countries--including some in the Middle East--as well as the United States and European countries, where interest in nuclear power issues is high, according to ministry sources.
According to the ministry, of 5,600 foreign students who were scheduled to study in Japan this year, 600 canceled their plans.
The ministry has allocated 100 million yen to the program in a third fiscal 2011 supplementary budget, which is to be submitted to the next extraordinary Diet session. After the budget is passed by the Diet, the program will be implemented.
The program will enable the foreign students to converse with local government officials involved in reconstruction efforts in disaster-hit areas, shop owners, and members and officials of fishery cooperatives and nonprofit organizations. The program will also likely include exchanges with Japanese university students, the sources said.
The ministry hopes the foreign students who take part in the program will see that progress is being made toward bringing the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control, and that studying in Japan thus involves no safety concerns, the sources explained.
The ministry expects that after the students return home, they will provide others in their countries with accurate information by reporting on what they saw and heard in Japan, the sources said.
(Oct. 13, 2011)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111012006453.htm
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Universities sign up Japan's new wave of leaders
THE University of Queensland is poised to capitalise on Japanese companies' sudden expansion into foreign markets by boosting its numbers of students from the country.
Together with the University of NSW, UQ's Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education has signed a memorandum of understanding with leading Japanese personnel company DISCO to train Japan's next generation of corporate leaders.
With a shrinking domestic market surrounded by buoyant emerging economies Japanese firms have belatedly realised their best prospects lie abroad.
But expansion is being hamstrung by the fact few of their employees are globally and culturally savvy or fluent enough in English to do business in the West or other parts of Asia.
David Nelson, deputy director of ICTE-UQ, said the institute was offering short courses that went beyond just English and included cultural awareness, change management and doing business in Asia.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"Japan has a very high graduate unemployment rate at the moment of 30 per cent. Part of that is economy-related, but it's also quite clear they have a skills gap," he said.
"They are basically being forced to globalise because their domestic market is contracting. At this stage they just don't have the people to do it, but there seems to be a new move to send graduates offshore."
Although up to 15 per cent of ICTE-UQ's foreign students come from Japan, numbers of Japanese students in Australia as a whole have been dropping with China, India, South Korea and the Middle East and Latin America making up the shortfall.
Tom Okumura, DISCO's deputy director, global education and training, hopes to convince students and graduate employers that Australia is the best place for Japanese students to study business-related courses in English.
"We are explaining to them that Australia is not just a sightseeing destination any more," he said.
"The first big challenge is to brand Australia and to get an understanding of Australia as an ideal destination to study, far better than the US or the UK. Australia has much stronger connection with Asia."
Mr Okumura said along with quality courses, Australia also offered students the chance to network and familiarise themselves with other students, most of whom were from other countries in Asia.
His biggest task was persuading conservative human resource managers to send students to UQ or the University of NSW -- both of which ranked in the global top 50 universities (on QS World University Rankings) -- rather than British or US universities.
Queensland's Tokyo-based trade commissioner Tak Adachi, who helped broker the MoU, said the state had kept up its strong ties with Japan and was a logical destination for students.
"Both ICTE-UQ and DISCO have recognised the advantages of studying in Queensland and as Japan faces greater pressure to compete in the global economy, relationships like this will be vital."
Former ICTE-UQ student Naoya Egawa did a professional year program at the university after doing his undergraduate degree at Griffith University and wound up with a job working in UQ's finance department.
Mr Egawa, who is from Nagoya, said studying in Australia -- as opposed to the US or Europe -- gave students a more Asian international experience and he would recommend it to fellow Japanese.
"A lot of people in Japan are close-minded, they don't think very globally. It's very important for young people to get out and see the world," he said. "I'd say come over for at least a few months because if you just stay in Japan it's going to be very difficult."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/unis-sign-up-japans-new-wave-of-leaders/story-e6frgcjx-1226158334451
Together with the University of NSW, UQ's Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education has signed a memorandum of understanding with leading Japanese personnel company DISCO to train Japan's next generation of corporate leaders.
With a shrinking domestic market surrounded by buoyant emerging economies Japanese firms have belatedly realised their best prospects lie abroad.
But expansion is being hamstrung by the fact few of their employees are globally and culturally savvy or fluent enough in English to do business in the West or other parts of Asia.
David Nelson, deputy director of ICTE-UQ, said the institute was offering short courses that went beyond just English and included cultural awareness, change management and doing business in Asia.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"Japan has a very high graduate unemployment rate at the moment of 30 per cent. Part of that is economy-related, but it's also quite clear they have a skills gap," he said.
"They are basically being forced to globalise because their domestic market is contracting. At this stage they just don't have the people to do it, but there seems to be a new move to send graduates offshore."
Although up to 15 per cent of ICTE-UQ's foreign students come from Japan, numbers of Japanese students in Australia as a whole have been dropping with China, India, South Korea and the Middle East and Latin America making up the shortfall.
Tom Okumura, DISCO's deputy director, global education and training, hopes to convince students and graduate employers that Australia is the best place for Japanese students to study business-related courses in English.
"We are explaining to them that Australia is not just a sightseeing destination any more," he said.
"The first big challenge is to brand Australia and to get an understanding of Australia as an ideal destination to study, far better than the US or the UK. Australia has much stronger connection with Asia."
Mr Okumura said along with quality courses, Australia also offered students the chance to network and familiarise themselves with other students, most of whom were from other countries in Asia.
His biggest task was persuading conservative human resource managers to send students to UQ or the University of NSW -- both of which ranked in the global top 50 universities (on QS World University Rankings) -- rather than British or US universities.
Queensland's Tokyo-based trade commissioner Tak Adachi, who helped broker the MoU, said the state had kept up its strong ties with Japan and was a logical destination for students.
"Both ICTE-UQ and DISCO have recognised the advantages of studying in Queensland and as Japan faces greater pressure to compete in the global economy, relationships like this will be vital."
Former ICTE-UQ student Naoya Egawa did a professional year program at the university after doing his undergraduate degree at Griffith University and wound up with a job working in UQ's finance department.
Mr Egawa, who is from Nagoya, said studying in Australia -- as opposed to the US or Europe -- gave students a more Asian international experience and he would recommend it to fellow Japanese.
"A lot of people in Japan are close-minded, they don't think very globally. It's very important for young people to get out and see the world," he said. "I'd say come over for at least a few months because if you just stay in Japan it's going to be very difficult."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/unis-sign-up-japans-new-wave-of-leaders/story-e6frgcjx-1226158334451
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Japan needs to open its doors wider for foreign workers
With its population aging rapidly, Japan will see an increased need for more nursing and health care professionals in the years ahead.
Japan could find itself in serious trouble if it erects barriers too high for foreign workers wishing to work here.
Japan and Vietnam are now holding talks to establish a system that will allow young Vietnamese to work as nurses and nursing care workers in Japan. The negotiations are based on a bilateral economic partnership agreement.
Japan already has programs to accept such health care workers from Indonesia and the Philippines under bilateral economic partnership agreements with these countries. But these programs have turned out to be riddled with problems.
These problems need to be fixed if Japan is to establish a better program with Vietnam.
Under existing programs, trainees receive about half a year of training before coming to Japan and then work for three years at Japanese hospitals as they prepare for state examinations to qualify as a health care professional. Nearly 600 candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines have taken part in the programs since fiscal 2008.
Of the 254 foreign trainees who took the nursing license exam last year, however, only three were successful. The number of successful applicants for the exam held in March this year was larger at 16, but the pass rate was still as low as 4 percent.
In order to prevent the unsuccessful candidates from returning home en masse, the government decided to allow the first group of Indonesian trainees to stay in Japan for one more year.
But many of the young Indonesians who failed to qualify have given up on working in Japan and have returned home.
The government should not allow a similar situation where the young Vietnamese who come to Japan with hopes of working here return home disappointed.
The biggest factor behind the low ratios of successful applicants is clearly the language barrier.
It is apparently an overwhelming challenge for these trainees to learn enough Japanese while working.
In addition, the need to learn many technical terms further increases the difficulty of passing the license examination. As a result, trainees whose work was rated highly by the hospitals did not necessarily pass the exam.
In its current state, the system appears as if it was designed to reject rather than accept foreign nationals wishing to work as health care professionals in Japan.
It is necessary to give the trainees one year or so of Japanese language training so that they can acquire at least sufficient skills for everyday conversation. The state license exam also needs to be improved.
Under the economic partnership agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, two or three years of experience in the profession are required to be eligible for the programs. But it is doubtful whether such lengthy experience is really necessary.
Some Japanese experts say it is easier for younger trainees to get acclimated to the working practices and conditions at Japanese medical institutions.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many Indonesian and Philippine trainees remained at hospitals and facilities in affected areas to help victims. The ways they contributed to disaster relief efforts were reported and much talked about back in their home countries.
We should value young foreigners who have come to have affection for Japan.
Competition for human resources in Asia is getting stronger.
Japan needs to create an open and attractive system to get more qualified and talented foreign workers.
The new administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should reconsider the government's policy of accepting foreign workers so as to open the nation's door wider to human resources from around the world.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109060242.html
Japan could find itself in serious trouble if it erects barriers too high for foreign workers wishing to work here.
Japan and Vietnam are now holding talks to establish a system that will allow young Vietnamese to work as nurses and nursing care workers in Japan. The negotiations are based on a bilateral economic partnership agreement.
Japan already has programs to accept such health care workers from Indonesia and the Philippines under bilateral economic partnership agreements with these countries. But these programs have turned out to be riddled with problems.
These problems need to be fixed if Japan is to establish a better program with Vietnam.
Under existing programs, trainees receive about half a year of training before coming to Japan and then work for three years at Japanese hospitals as they prepare for state examinations to qualify as a health care professional. Nearly 600 candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines have taken part in the programs since fiscal 2008.
Of the 254 foreign trainees who took the nursing license exam last year, however, only three were successful. The number of successful applicants for the exam held in March this year was larger at 16, but the pass rate was still as low as 4 percent.
In order to prevent the unsuccessful candidates from returning home en masse, the government decided to allow the first group of Indonesian trainees to stay in Japan for one more year.
But many of the young Indonesians who failed to qualify have given up on working in Japan and have returned home.
The government should not allow a similar situation where the young Vietnamese who come to Japan with hopes of working here return home disappointed.
The biggest factor behind the low ratios of successful applicants is clearly the language barrier.
It is apparently an overwhelming challenge for these trainees to learn enough Japanese while working.
In addition, the need to learn many technical terms further increases the difficulty of passing the license examination. As a result, trainees whose work was rated highly by the hospitals did not necessarily pass the exam.
In its current state, the system appears as if it was designed to reject rather than accept foreign nationals wishing to work as health care professionals in Japan.
It is necessary to give the trainees one year or so of Japanese language training so that they can acquire at least sufficient skills for everyday conversation. The state license exam also needs to be improved.
Under the economic partnership agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, two or three years of experience in the profession are required to be eligible for the programs. But it is doubtful whether such lengthy experience is really necessary.
Some Japanese experts say it is easier for younger trainees to get acclimated to the working practices and conditions at Japanese medical institutions.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, many Indonesian and Philippine trainees remained at hospitals and facilities in affected areas to help victims. The ways they contributed to disaster relief efforts were reported and much talked about back in their home countries.
We should value young foreigners who have come to have affection for Japan.
Competition for human resources in Asia is getting stronger.
Japan needs to create an open and attractive system to get more qualified and talented foreign workers.
The new administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should reconsider the government's policy of accepting foreign workers so as to open the nation's door wider to human resources from around the world.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109060242.html
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Todai plans English-only course
The University of Tokyo said Friday it will launch a course whose classes are all in English from fiscal 2012 as part of efforts to promote internationalization.
The entrance exam for the course to be set up in the College of Arts and Science will also be conducted in English as it mainly targets foreign students. Known as Todai, the prestigious university is seeking to "gather competitive students from across the world," it said.
The university will recruit a small number of students from January to March for the course starting from October 2012. Applicants are required to have been educated in languages other than Japanese for 10 years or more before graduating from high school. While applicants will have to submit short essays, written exams will not be held.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110723b1.html
The entrance exam for the course to be set up in the College of Arts and Science will also be conducted in English as it mainly targets foreign students. Known as Todai, the prestigious university is seeking to "gather competitive students from across the world," it said.
The university will recruit a small number of students from January to March for the course starting from October 2012. Applicants are required to have been educated in languages other than Japanese for 10 years or more before graduating from high school. While applicants will have to submit short essays, written exams will not be held.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110723b1.html
Friday, July 22, 2011
Meiji Univ Most Popular Among High School Seniors In Tokyo Area
Meiji University is the most desirable school among college-bound high school seniors in the Kanto region, a Recruit Co. survey released Thursday shows.
Meiji is known for its ability to help graduating students find jobs.
For the 2011 school year, the university received roughly 114,000 general applications, among the most at four-year universities in Japan.
Waseda University, Rikkyo University and Nihon University were also popular in the region, which includes the greater Tokyo area.
In the Kansai region, Kansai University was the most popular. Public universities gained in popularity, with Kobe University, Osaka City University and Osaka University moving up to third, fifth and sixth.
In the Tokai region, Nagoya University was the most popular. Schools within the region took up 18 of the top 20 positions. Waseda at 18th and Ritsumeikan University at 19th were the only schools located outside the area to make the top 20.
Recruit believes that public universities and local schools are becoming popular for cost reasons amid the economic slump and the worsening job market.
The fourth annual survey was conducted in April. This year's results are based on answers from 10,450 high school seniors.
(The Nikkei July 22 morning edition)
http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110721D21JFN04.htm
Meiji is known for its ability to help graduating students find jobs.
For the 2011 school year, the university received roughly 114,000 general applications, among the most at four-year universities in Japan.
Waseda University, Rikkyo University and Nihon University were also popular in the region, which includes the greater Tokyo area.
In the Kansai region, Kansai University was the most popular. Public universities gained in popularity, with Kobe University, Osaka City University and Osaka University moving up to third, fifth and sixth.
In the Tokai region, Nagoya University was the most popular. Schools within the region took up 18 of the top 20 positions. Waseda at 18th and Ritsumeikan University at 19th were the only schools located outside the area to make the top 20.
Recruit believes that public universities and local schools are becoming popular for cost reasons amid the economic slump and the worsening job market.
The fourth annual survey was conducted in April. This year's results are based on answers from 10,450 high school seniors.
(The Nikkei July 22 morning edition)
http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110721D21JFN04.htm
Friday, July 15, 2011
Panel targets English proficiency
An education ministry panel proposed Wednesday that local governments hire 600 foreigners and Japanese with excellent English-language skills nationwide as regular schoolteachers by the end of fiscal 2016 to enhance students' English-language proficiency.
The 12-member panel suggested the state and local boards of education double the number of 18-year-old students who have studied or stayed abroad to around 30,000.
It also proposed that assistant language teachers participate in club and other activities to improve students' English proficiency.
"To nurture Japanese who can truly use English, it is necessary to review once again the obstacles and policies on our nation's English education," the panel said in its proposal.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110714b2.html?
The 12-member panel suggested the state and local boards of education double the number of 18-year-old students who have studied or stayed abroad to around 30,000.
It also proposed that assistant language teachers participate in club and other activities to improve students' English proficiency.
"To nurture Japanese who can truly use English, it is necessary to review once again the obstacles and policies on our nation's English education," the panel said in its proposal.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110714b2.html?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Foreign students back but numbers look likely to fall
They're back. Worries that foreign students would abandon Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and accompanying fiasco at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have proven to be largely unfounded.
According to Ministry of Justice figures, 70,170 foreign students left Japan between March 12 and April 8. No one knows how many more living in the Tohoku and Kanto regions suddenly decided to spend their spring breaks in Kansai or Kyushu.
With 40 percent of the 175,000 foreign students studying in Japan leaving the country within four weeks, the Japanese government and school officials quickly introduced a number of countermeasures to encourage their return.
The Ministry of Justice simplified application procedures for international students who left without obtaining the required re-entry permit. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology offered to pay return-fare costs for government scholarship students living in disaster areas who had evacuated to their home country after the earthquake. It also provided emergency funds to 1,000 foreigners studying at universities in disaster areas.
University administrators throughout Japan did their best to dispel fears about radiation levels by posting information on their Web pages and giving explanatory lectures. Several universities, including Chuo University in Tokyo and Joshibi University of Art and Design in Kanagawa, sent representatives to China and South Korea to give lectures on the situation in Japan.
At International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture, where 300 students from about 50 countries take graduate classes in English, the school used technology to reach out to students. According to an IUJ public relations officer, the school set up an English Web page to provide daily updates on the earthquake, tsunami and radiation levels. Students who remained on campus posted messages on the university homepage explaining how the situation in Niigata was safe. IUJ's president also personally sent email messages to students each morning providing them with the latest information and words of encouragement.
Efforts by government and university officials paid off. A ministry of education survey of 135 schools with 33,867 foreign students found that 96 percent, including 86.5 percent in the Tohoku region, had returned to Japan by May 20, a notable improvement from a month earlier, when only 35 percent of foreign students in Tohoku had returned before the delayed start to the school year.
Anecdotal evidence supports the education ministry's data. At IUJ, only two students failed to return. Student numbers for the start of the new school year in September also remain strong and IUJ expects 190 to 196 new students, an increase over last year's 188 freshmen.
At Tohoku University, where 1,504 international students are enrolled, an exchange student division spokesperson reports that only about 10 students withdrew or took a leave of absence.
"I wasn't afraid the students wouldn't come back", says Bruce Stronach, the dean of Temple University, Japan Campus, in Tokyo. "I was only concerned about when that would occur."
Immediately after the earthquake, the university began benchmarking similar disasters. "Generally it takes about a year or a little over a year for business to return to normal," says Stronach. TUJ predicts that foreign student numbers will return to pre-March 11 levels in 12 to 16 months.
While the overall picture remains positive, worrisome trends in the numbers of two categories of foreign students continue to threaten the Ministry of Education's stated goal of increasing their number to 300,000 by 2020.
While the four-year degree students have returned, numbers of short-term study-abroad students coming to Japan have dropped. According to the Japan Student Services Organization's figures, in 2010 there were 11,824 short-term international students studying in Japan. It remains to be seen how many will come in 2011 but the number of programs canceled this spring isn't encouraging.
Hirosaki Gakuin University in Aomori Prefecture had to cancel a four-week summer program usually held in May and June for students from sister schools in the United States. "The reason that we canceled our program is that the U.S. State Department had issued a warning suggesting American citizens stay away from northern Japan," explains Edo Forsythe, an English lecturer at Hirosaki Gakuin.
By the April deadline only one student had expressed an interest in attending. Two other students who backed out weren't afraid of radiation or aftershocks. "Their hesitation was, they didn't want to come here and enjoy themselves studying while a couple hundred kilometers away there were people whose lives had been devastated," says Forsythe. "They just didn't feel comfortable doing that."
U.S. State Department warnings also forced the cancelation of Temple University Japan's spring-term study-abroad program, affecting 69 students. A TUJ spokesperson says the university expects approximately one-third of the study-abroad students for this year's autumn semester compared to the same time last year.
At International University of Japan, half of the exchange students who submitted applications for the autumn semester starting in September canceled. Instead of the usual 15 to 18 exchange students, the school expects only three.
Further north at Tohoku University, 26 out of 44 study-abroad students expected for the spring semester withdrew and another nine students postponed their arrival. Encouragingly though, numbers for study-abroad students are only down about 8 percent for October's autumn semester.
A dramatic decline in the number of foreign students applying to study at Japanese language schools poses a potentially greater problem. At a May 9 press conference, Michio Hori, a representative of the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council, described the crisis facing Japanese language schools.
Hori explained that 43,000 foreigners study at Japanese language schools but that in April, 10 to 30 percent of continuing students (depending on the school and the region) and 30 to 50 percent of new students were absent.
Apart from the obvious financial headache, these absences also gave schools an administrative migraine. Since the Ministry of Justice requires attendance in at least 90 percent of classes for visa renewals, many schools had to delay the start of the semester to avoid threatening their students' future visa status.
A May 24 survey of 446 Japanese language schools by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education showed the situation was improving but still serious. At the end of May, eight percent of continuing students had quit and 16 percent of incoming students had withdrawn. A further 11 percent said they would arrive after June or hadn't decided whether to come at all.
More alarming for Japanese language schools are the reduced application numbers for October's autumn semester. With visa applications due at the Ministry of Justice in early May, Hori reported that applications were down 70 percent compared to October last year.
In response, the Ministry of Justice extended the deadline to June 20. However, even that may not have been long enough to reassure prospective students. June interviews with spokespeople from four Tokyo-area Japanese language schools revealed that October applications were down between 40 and 70 percent compared to last year.
"Those who have never been to Japan won't come," explains Hori. Most foreign students who have experience living in Japan and know friends in the country understand how safe it is, he says. The problem is convincing new students.
"The most important point for the management of most Japanese language schools is next April's recruitment," says Youngjin Arai, managing director at Akamonkai Japanese Language School. "I think the operation of schools that can't do it well will be in danger."
Most Japanese schools are using similar strategies to dispel rumors and encourage students to come to Japan. Spokespeople at Tokyo Central Japanese Language School and Akamonkai Japanese Language School, also in Tokyo, both describe how they are using Facebook, blogs and school homepages to give accurate information about how Tokyo is functioning normally. Both schools also sent staff to China and South Korea, where 75 percent of Japan's international students come from, to hold explanatory sessions and meet directly with students and parents and help allay their fears.
Nine Tokyo-area schools formed the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council on April 15. The council is lobbying the government and working with the media to convey accurate information about the situation in Japan, and plans to operate until December.
"When the recovery will take place is difficult to say," said a spokesperson for the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education, but right now Japan needs to launch a campaign informing foreigners that the nuclear plant hasn't had an effect on people's daily lives in Tokyo. The need for the campaign is all the more urgent considering how difficult it is to change peoples' minds after they have heard so much bad news, he added.
Recent changes to work visa rules should help student numbers at Japanese language schools recover. Foreigners were, in principle, required to have a bachelor's degree to get a work visa. The Justice Ministry relaxed those requirements at the end of June to allow foreign graduates of Japanese vocational schools to work in Japan after completing their studies.
Because of the decline in students at Japanese language schools, the full impact of the March 11 disaster on Japanese higher education may not be felt for another year or two. Since 70 percent of Japanese language school students continue studying at postsecondary institutions here, a drop in the number coming to study Japanese will mean fewer students are eligible to enter Japanese universities and colleges in the near future.
The decline in Japanese language students is just the latest tremor to hit the government's plan to attract 300,000 foreign students. The plan had already been shaken last year by cuts to scholarships and the budget for the Global 30, a program to fund international recruitment efforts at up to 30 elite universities.
According to Temple University Japan dean Stronach, "Foreign students are essential for Japanese universities these days: educationally, financially and particularly for graduate education and research in Japan."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110712zg.html?
According to Ministry of Justice figures, 70,170 foreign students left Japan between March 12 and April 8. No one knows how many more living in the Tohoku and Kanto regions suddenly decided to spend their spring breaks in Kansai or Kyushu.
With 40 percent of the 175,000 foreign students studying in Japan leaving the country within four weeks, the Japanese government and school officials quickly introduced a number of countermeasures to encourage their return.
The Ministry of Justice simplified application procedures for international students who left without obtaining the required re-entry permit. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology offered to pay return-fare costs for government scholarship students living in disaster areas who had evacuated to their home country after the earthquake. It also provided emergency funds to 1,000 foreigners studying at universities in disaster areas.
University administrators throughout Japan did their best to dispel fears about radiation levels by posting information on their Web pages and giving explanatory lectures. Several universities, including Chuo University in Tokyo and Joshibi University of Art and Design in Kanagawa, sent representatives to China and South Korea to give lectures on the situation in Japan.
At International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture, where 300 students from about 50 countries take graduate classes in English, the school used technology to reach out to students. According to an IUJ public relations officer, the school set up an English Web page to provide daily updates on the earthquake, tsunami and radiation levels. Students who remained on campus posted messages on the university homepage explaining how the situation in Niigata was safe. IUJ's president also personally sent email messages to students each morning providing them with the latest information and words of encouragement.
Efforts by government and university officials paid off. A ministry of education survey of 135 schools with 33,867 foreign students found that 96 percent, including 86.5 percent in the Tohoku region, had returned to Japan by May 20, a notable improvement from a month earlier, when only 35 percent of foreign students in Tohoku had returned before the delayed start to the school year.
Anecdotal evidence supports the education ministry's data. At IUJ, only two students failed to return. Student numbers for the start of the new school year in September also remain strong and IUJ expects 190 to 196 new students, an increase over last year's 188 freshmen.
At Tohoku University, where 1,504 international students are enrolled, an exchange student division spokesperson reports that only about 10 students withdrew or took a leave of absence.
"I wasn't afraid the students wouldn't come back", says Bruce Stronach, the dean of Temple University, Japan Campus, in Tokyo. "I was only concerned about when that would occur."
Immediately after the earthquake, the university began benchmarking similar disasters. "Generally it takes about a year or a little over a year for business to return to normal," says Stronach. TUJ predicts that foreign student numbers will return to pre-March 11 levels in 12 to 16 months.
While the overall picture remains positive, worrisome trends in the numbers of two categories of foreign students continue to threaten the Ministry of Education's stated goal of increasing their number to 300,000 by 2020.
While the four-year degree students have returned, numbers of short-term study-abroad students coming to Japan have dropped. According to the Japan Student Services Organization's figures, in 2010 there were 11,824 short-term international students studying in Japan. It remains to be seen how many will come in 2011 but the number of programs canceled this spring isn't encouraging.
Hirosaki Gakuin University in Aomori Prefecture had to cancel a four-week summer program usually held in May and June for students from sister schools in the United States. "The reason that we canceled our program is that the U.S. State Department had issued a warning suggesting American citizens stay away from northern Japan," explains Edo Forsythe, an English lecturer at Hirosaki Gakuin.
By the April deadline only one student had expressed an interest in attending. Two other students who backed out weren't afraid of radiation or aftershocks. "Their hesitation was, they didn't want to come here and enjoy themselves studying while a couple hundred kilometers away there were people whose lives had been devastated," says Forsythe. "They just didn't feel comfortable doing that."
U.S. State Department warnings also forced the cancelation of Temple University Japan's spring-term study-abroad program, affecting 69 students. A TUJ spokesperson says the university expects approximately one-third of the study-abroad students for this year's autumn semester compared to the same time last year.
At International University of Japan, half of the exchange students who submitted applications for the autumn semester starting in September canceled. Instead of the usual 15 to 18 exchange students, the school expects only three.
Further north at Tohoku University, 26 out of 44 study-abroad students expected for the spring semester withdrew and another nine students postponed their arrival. Encouragingly though, numbers for study-abroad students are only down about 8 percent for October's autumn semester.
A dramatic decline in the number of foreign students applying to study at Japanese language schools poses a potentially greater problem. At a May 9 press conference, Michio Hori, a representative of the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council, described the crisis facing Japanese language schools.
Hori explained that 43,000 foreigners study at Japanese language schools but that in April, 10 to 30 percent of continuing students (depending on the school and the region) and 30 to 50 percent of new students were absent.
Apart from the obvious financial headache, these absences also gave schools an administrative migraine. Since the Ministry of Justice requires attendance in at least 90 percent of classes for visa renewals, many schools had to delay the start of the semester to avoid threatening their students' future visa status.
A May 24 survey of 446 Japanese language schools by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education showed the situation was improving but still serious. At the end of May, eight percent of continuing students had quit and 16 percent of incoming students had withdrawn. A further 11 percent said they would arrive after June or hadn't decided whether to come at all.
More alarming for Japanese language schools are the reduced application numbers for October's autumn semester. With visa applications due at the Ministry of Justice in early May, Hori reported that applications were down 70 percent compared to October last year.
In response, the Ministry of Justice extended the deadline to June 20. However, even that may not have been long enough to reassure prospective students. June interviews with spokespeople from four Tokyo-area Japanese language schools revealed that October applications were down between 40 and 70 percent compared to last year.
"Those who have never been to Japan won't come," explains Hori. Most foreign students who have experience living in Japan and know friends in the country understand how safe it is, he says. The problem is convincing new students.
"The most important point for the management of most Japanese language schools is next April's recruitment," says Youngjin Arai, managing director at Akamonkai Japanese Language School. "I think the operation of schools that can't do it well will be in danger."
Most Japanese schools are using similar strategies to dispel rumors and encourage students to come to Japan. Spokespeople at Tokyo Central Japanese Language School and Akamonkai Japanese Language School, also in Tokyo, both describe how they are using Facebook, blogs and school homepages to give accurate information about how Tokyo is functioning normally. Both schools also sent staff to China and South Korea, where 75 percent of Japan's international students come from, to hold explanatory sessions and meet directly with students and parents and help allay their fears.
Nine Tokyo-area schools formed the Japanese School Earthquake Reconstruction Council on April 15. The council is lobbying the government and working with the media to convey accurate information about the situation in Japan, and plans to operate until December.
"When the recovery will take place is difficult to say," said a spokesperson for the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education, but right now Japan needs to launch a campaign informing foreigners that the nuclear plant hasn't had an effect on people's daily lives in Tokyo. The need for the campaign is all the more urgent considering how difficult it is to change peoples' minds after they have heard so much bad news, he added.
Recent changes to work visa rules should help student numbers at Japanese language schools recover. Foreigners were, in principle, required to have a bachelor's degree to get a work visa. The Justice Ministry relaxed those requirements at the end of June to allow foreign graduates of Japanese vocational schools to work in Japan after completing their studies.
Because of the decline in students at Japanese language schools, the full impact of the March 11 disaster on Japanese higher education may not be felt for another year or two. Since 70 percent of Japanese language school students continue studying at postsecondary institutions here, a drop in the number coming to study Japanese will mean fewer students are eligible to enter Japanese universities and colleges in the near future.
The decline in Japanese language students is just the latest tremor to hit the government's plan to attract 300,000 foreign students. The plan had already been shaken last year by cuts to scholarships and the budget for the Global 30, a program to fund international recruitment efforts at up to 30 elite universities.
According to Temple University Japan dean Stronach, "Foreign students are essential for Japanese universities these days: educationally, financially and particularly for graduate education and research in Japan."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110712zg.html?
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Foreign vocational grads get break
The Justice Ministry on Friday eased the educational requirements for foreign residents who wish to re-enter Japan for employment, allowing graduates of Japanese vocational schools to do so without a college degree.
The move is part of a new growth strategy and is aimed at providing career support to such graduates so Japan can attract more foreign students.
It is also aimed at luring back vocational school students who want to work in Japan but decided to leave after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, officials said.
Before the revision, only college-educated foreign residents were allowed to re-enter Japan for employment if they had returned to their home countries because the ministry deemed it necessary for foreigners to have "a certain level of expertise."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110702b2.html?
The move is part of a new growth strategy and is aimed at providing career support to such graduates so Japan can attract more foreign students.
It is also aimed at luring back vocational school students who want to work in Japan but decided to leave after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, officials said.
Before the revision, only college-educated foreign residents were allowed to re-enter Japan for employment if they had returned to their home countries because the ministry deemed it necessary for foreigners to have "a certain level of expertise."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110702b2.html?
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Push to attract Japanese students here
AUSTRALIA'S trade and tourism agencies are making a renewed push to boost the number of Japanese visiting the country to study English or vocational courses and for work experience.
The number of Japanese visitors to Australia has dwindled in recent years and the country has fallen behind India, China and South Korea as a source of foreign students.
Austrade's Tokyo office and Tourism Australia have begun a campaign to capitalise on the failure of Japan's universities and corporations to produce globally savvy staff capable of competing in the international economy.
The Step Up in Australia campaign is designed to get Japanese university students to undertake some study here and young graduates to pursue further study and internships.
The head of Tourism Australia in Japan, Kaz Hori, said the program allowed Australia to present the full range of study abroad options to lure Japanese students.
"Australia is the pre-eminent destination for school excursions from Japan and attracts a large number of short-term language students each year," he said. "What this initiative outlines is the next step in the career development of young Japanese, providing them with a step-up opportunity to compete in a globalised world."
Today's generation of young Japanese is more reluctant to travel and work overseas than their parents' generation, resulting in more insular and less sophisticated employees.
And the university sector in Japan is under fire for failing to produce graduates with the ability to speak English at high enough level to compete with their counterparts from rising Asian powers such as China, South Korea and India.
A recent report from Austrade on developing Japan's human capital found the country faced a critical skills deficiency. As Japanese companies are increasingly looking to bolster their presence overseas, there is a widespread realisation that Japan lacks globally literate people capable of negotiating the challenges of international business.
The Japanese government is aware of these faults and is working on reforms, while a growing number of university campuses are offering courses delivered in English amid efforts to make universities more multicultural.
Japan also wants to increase the number of foreign students in the country from the present level of 100,000 to 300,000.
But, meantime, the federal government believes there is an opportunity for Australia, which is in almost the same time zone as Japan, to help bridge this gap.
Austrade has begun approaching Japanese corporations to explain the merits of sending employees to Australia to further their skills in English, or do short courses in global or Asian business studies.
The best performing Japanese companies are increasingly shifting their focus to the rest of Asia as the domestic market shrinks amid ongoing economic stagnation.
The Japanese branch of KFC is the only example so far of how the scheme may work. The company sends employees to Adelaide to study English, then brings them to Sydney to meet the Australian management of the chain and for work experience.
To launch the campaign, the Australian government offered two scholarships - one for a university student and one for an employee - to do a Step Up program at the University of NSW.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/push-to-attract-japanese-students-here/story-e6frgcjx-1226079461717
The number of Japanese visitors to Australia has dwindled in recent years and the country has fallen behind India, China and South Korea as a source of foreign students.
Austrade's Tokyo office and Tourism Australia have begun a campaign to capitalise on the failure of Japan's universities and corporations to produce globally savvy staff capable of competing in the international economy.
The Step Up in Australia campaign is designed to get Japanese university students to undertake some study here and young graduates to pursue further study and internships.
The head of Tourism Australia in Japan, Kaz Hori, said the program allowed Australia to present the full range of study abroad options to lure Japanese students.
"Australia is the pre-eminent destination for school excursions from Japan and attracts a large number of short-term language students each year," he said. "What this initiative outlines is the next step in the career development of young Japanese, providing them with a step-up opportunity to compete in a globalised world."
Today's generation of young Japanese is more reluctant to travel and work overseas than their parents' generation, resulting in more insular and less sophisticated employees.
And the university sector in Japan is under fire for failing to produce graduates with the ability to speak English at high enough level to compete with their counterparts from rising Asian powers such as China, South Korea and India.
A recent report from Austrade on developing Japan's human capital found the country faced a critical skills deficiency. As Japanese companies are increasingly looking to bolster their presence overseas, there is a widespread realisation that Japan lacks globally literate people capable of negotiating the challenges of international business.
The Japanese government is aware of these faults and is working on reforms, while a growing number of university campuses are offering courses delivered in English amid efforts to make universities more multicultural.
Japan also wants to increase the number of foreign students in the country from the present level of 100,000 to 300,000.
But, meantime, the federal government believes there is an opportunity for Australia, which is in almost the same time zone as Japan, to help bridge this gap.
Austrade has begun approaching Japanese corporations to explain the merits of sending employees to Australia to further their skills in English, or do short courses in global or Asian business studies.
The best performing Japanese companies are increasingly shifting their focus to the rest of Asia as the domestic market shrinks amid ongoing economic stagnation.
The Japanese branch of KFC is the only example so far of how the scheme may work. The company sends employees to Adelaide to study English, then brings them to Sydney to meet the Australian management of the chain and for work experience.
To launch the campaign, the Australian government offered two scholarships - one for a university student and one for an employee - to do a Step Up program at the University of NSW.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/push-to-attract-japanese-students-here/story-e6frgcjx-1226079461717
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Keidanren to launch scholarships for students studying abroad
The Japan Business Federation said Monday it will launch scholarships next year to support students studying abroad, given that young Japanese people are said to have grown reluctant to study or work overseas.
The nation's largest business lobby, known as Keidanren, plans to provide annual scholarships of 1 million yen each to 30 students from 13 universities, including Tohoku University and Doshisha University, who will study at foreign colleges for one year on exchange programs.
The number of universities covered by the scholarships will be gradually increased.
The federation will also support their efforts to find jobs after they return home as students are often concerned that studying abroad would affect their ability to secure employment.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9NQVU500&show_article=1
The nation's largest business lobby, known as Keidanren, plans to provide annual scholarships of 1 million yen each to 30 students from 13 universities, including Tohoku University and Doshisha University, who will study at foreign colleges for one year on exchange programs.
The number of universities covered by the scholarships will be gradually increased.
The federation will also support their efforts to find jobs after they return home as students are often concerned that studying abroad would affect their ability to secure employment.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9NQVU500&show_article=1
Monday, June 13, 2011
University in Kyoto to offer doctoral course on 'manga'
Kyoto Seika University will offer a doctoral course on studies of Japanese "manga" comics in fiscal 2012, the private university in the city of Kyoto said Tuesday.
The university will be the first Japanese university to offer a doctorate in the subject, during which students will study the theory of manga making and actually produce manga, the university said, adding the course will allow for enrollment of four students.
German art scholar Jaqueline Berndt, manga artist Keiko Takemiya and other active authors and editors will give lectures as part of the planned doctoral course.
The university opened the manga department in 2000, the first of its kind in the country, and established a master's degree program in 2010.
The university decided to offer a doctoral program after receiving requests for such a program from its students, it said. It also took into consideration foreign students who asked for a valid degree in the subject.
The university will accept applications for the course between next Jan. 6 and 20. An entrance examination is slated for Feb. 7, the university said.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9NMTJN01&show_article=1
The university will be the first Japanese university to offer a doctorate in the subject, during which students will study the theory of manga making and actually produce manga, the university said, adding the course will allow for enrollment of four students.
German art scholar Jaqueline Berndt, manga artist Keiko Takemiya and other active authors and editors will give lectures as part of the planned doctoral course.
The university opened the manga department in 2000, the first of its kind in the country, and established a master's degree program in 2010.
The university decided to offer a doctoral program after receiving requests for such a program from its students, it said. It also took into consideration foreign students who asked for a valid degree in the subject.
The university will accept applications for the course between next Jan. 6 and 20. An entrance examination is slated for Feb. 7, the university said.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9NMTJN01&show_article=1
Visa perks eyed to lure foreigners
The government on Thursday outlined plans to give preferential treatment to foreigners with specialized skills to encourage them to work in Japan.
According to the Justice Ministry, the preferential treatment will be based on a point system that will allow visas of up to three years to be extended to five years. It will go into effect by the end of the year amid increasing international competition for competent human resources, especially engineers.
The points will be determined by checking annual income, work experience and other factors, with visa extensions or other preferential treatment given to those with a certain level of points.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110610a9.html
According to the Justice Ministry, the preferential treatment will be based on a point system that will allow visas of up to three years to be extended to five years. It will go into effect by the end of the year amid increasing international competition for competent human resources, especially engineers.
The points will be determined by checking annual income, work experience and other factors, with visa extensions or other preferential treatment given to those with a certain level of points.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110610a9.html
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Govt to ease visa rules to lure students
The government plans to ease the academic requirements for obtaining work visas, thereby making it easier for foreign graduates of Japanese vocational schools to work in this country, sources said Monday.
The move is aimed at attracting more foreigners to study in Japan, the sources said.
The Justice Ministry plans to revise the relevant ordinance shortly, with the new policy to be implemented in late June at the earliest.
Currently, work visas are in principle issued only to foreign nationals who hold a bachelor degree or higher.
Exceptions can be made for foreign students who stay in Japan and find jobs after graduating from Japanese vocational schools, but not if the students return to their home countries after graduation.
In 2009, the ministry conducted a survey of the employment histories of foreign students attending Japanese vocational schools, and found that about 70 percent of them would likely be able to find jobs in this nation.
Many foreigners attending Japanese vocational schools are believed to have returned home since the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, without applying for reentry permits. Relaxing the academic requirements for work visas could encourage such students to return to this country, the observers said.
According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, there were 27,872 foreign students at Japanese vocational schools as of May last year.
It is hoped that relaxing the academic requirements could boost the number of foreign students who obtain work visas by more than 10,000 per year, the sources said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110530004016.htm
The move is aimed at attracting more foreigners to study in Japan, the sources said.
The Justice Ministry plans to revise the relevant ordinance shortly, with the new policy to be implemented in late June at the earliest.
Currently, work visas are in principle issued only to foreign nationals who hold a bachelor degree or higher.
Exceptions can be made for foreign students who stay in Japan and find jobs after graduating from Japanese vocational schools, but not if the students return to their home countries after graduation.
In 2009, the ministry conducted a survey of the employment histories of foreign students attending Japanese vocational schools, and found that about 70 percent of them would likely be able to find jobs in this nation.
Many foreigners attending Japanese vocational schools are believed to have returned home since the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, without applying for reentry permits. Relaxing the academic requirements for work visas could encourage such students to return to this country, the observers said.
According to a survey by the Japan Student Services Organization, there were 27,872 foreign students at Japanese vocational schools as of May last year.
It is hoped that relaxing the academic requirements could boost the number of foreign students who obtain work visas by more than 10,000 per year, the sources said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110530004016.htm
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Foreign students targeted for tours
The Japan Tourism Agency will send some 1,100 foreign students in Japan to tourist spots across the country starting in July to check out the facilities, including hotels and inns, and find new attractions as it tries to lure back tourists scared off by the March 11 catastrophes.
The agency said Friday that it hopes the students will spread word online about the sites to ease concerns about the aftermath of the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami and the radiation-spewing nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture for people abroad looking to visit Japan.
Travel, lodging and other expenses will be jointly shouldered by the government and any facilities that agree to accept the students. The agency plans to send 160 students to the disaster-hit Tohoku region.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110522b2.html
The agency said Friday that it hopes the students will spread word online about the sites to ease concerns about the aftermath of the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami and the radiation-spewing nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture for people abroad looking to visit Japan.
Travel, lodging and other expenses will be jointly shouldered by the government and any facilities that agree to accept the students. The agency plans to send 160 students to the disaster-hit Tohoku region.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110522b2.html
Sunday, March 06, 2011
English big business, and growing
When it comes to preparing for the April launch of compulsory English classes in elementary schools, the private sector appears to have a clear lead over public school teachers.
"We kicked off our preliminary research group in the beginning of 2007," Mina Funabashi, who heads the English content management division for elementary school products at Benesse Corp., told The Japan Times.
The publishing giant offers monthly correspondence courses to a whopping 1.77 million children, or 1 out of every 4 elementary school students in Japan. Yet despite having supplied English textbooks for preteens since 1989, their syllabus needed an overhaul since the lessons were designed for introduction to junior high school English courses.
With the government setting a new objective to nurture English communication skills among fifth- and sixth-graders, Benesse gathered a number of university professors, English education experts and teachers from both private and public schools to come up with the perfect textbook. Their goal was simple but hard to achieve: to develop a syllabus that would improve English communication skills while cultivating basic language knowledge.
Whereas the previous textbooks were designed for junior high and required that students learn sentences by repeating them out loud five times, a completely different approach was needed to reach the new goal.
Nurturing children's interest in overseas cultures was also deemed "crucial for students to continue wanting to learn the language," Funabashi explained.
What Funabashi's team came up with is exquisite — a textbook that essentially bridges the gap between what interests elementary school children and what they need to learn, instilling in them not only a larger vocabulary but also cultural understanding and weaving the experience into a fabric of their English knowledge.
One chapter of the new textbook, for example, shows an American girl visiting Japan and trying wasabi-flavored potato chips. A Japanese boy warns that the chips are spicy, but the girl takes a bite anyway and is surprised by the zesty taste.
The story is accompanied by colorful manga of the scenes, but does not include any Japanese translations. On the next page, there are illustrations of cookies, chocolate, gum and popcorn to further augment vocabulary.
According to Funabashi, a trial edition of the textbook received mixed reviews from parents. They were worried that the vocabulary was too undemanding, and some were taken aback that the book didn't have the Japanese version of the conversation.
But that was exactly Benesse's goal — to grab kids' attention and implant new knowledge.
"It is said that there are approximately 1,200 (English terms) frequently used by an elementary school student in Japan" whose meanings are understood, Funabashi explained, such as potato chips, chocolate and popcorn. Those terms were used in the textbook on purpose to work as a "bridge," or to stand out and get a student to pay attention to English dialogue.
Because potato chips is an English phrase they are already familiar with, students are more likely to be able to connect the dots into a sentence. The conversation becomes comprehensible as they pick up the words they know and digest them, Funabashi said.
"They don't need to have a translation," Funabashi said, adding that in the long run, this nurtures the students' ability to absorb vast amounts of English and ultimately enable them to converse.
Benesse's new English textbooks have been in use by fifth-graders since April 2009. A survey by the company revealed that the number of pupils interested in the course is on the rise, even among those who score lower in school. Calls from mothers inquiring about English studies are also growing, Funabashi said.
"We tell them there is nothing to worry about with the upcoming change in English teaching. We are ready to answer the needs of our customers," said Kaori Sakamoto, a manager at Benesse's corporate communications department.
All systems are also go at ECC Junior, where approximately 200,000 elementary school pupils — more than any other language school — are enrolled. The chain operates about 10,000 classrooms across the country, and has expertise in teaching English to youngsters, some only 2 years old.
Kuniko Tsukada, deputy general division manager of ECC Junior, said tutors in the company have already undergone training to learn the new curriculum at public elementary schools.
Offering enjoyable classes with quizzes and story-reading has been and will remain a core part of the program, but ECC will push for what it calls teaching "global-standard English skills," or the required level of English for studying and working abroad by the time a student graduates from high school, she said.
"What stands out in our new program is the volume of reading and writing that a student goes through," Tsukada told The Japan Times. The company went this route after examining what interests most preteen elementary school children, ECC Junior said in a statement, explaining the idea behind its super-learning programs, which include extensive reading and writing.
The shift was an effort to maximize a student's exposure to new English expressions.
"Dancing and singing could work, but only for younger kids," Tsukada said. Instead, the sense of being able to communicate beyond illustrative sentences such as "I like apples" and "this is a pen" is what appeared to be most stimulating for the older students. ECC Junior concluded that it becomes essential for fifth- and sixth-graders to push themselves harder to acquire basic English skills, including learning more words and phrases.
That is how the Vocathlon program was developed in 2004. It has been effective in maximizing students' capabilities, ECC Junior said.
While previous vocabulary lessons involved teachers holding a drawing and students reciting the name of the item shown, the new method is operated in a completely different manner.
In the Vocathlon program, each student opens a page in a textbook where random items are illustrated, and then repeats the corresponding English term.
"Some fifth- and sixth-graders can go beyond 160 items, which is amazing because even an adult would have difficulty doing that," Tsukada said, adding that speed training and a rich vocabulary ultimately enhance English communication.
Many students surprise the teachers by going beyond their expectations, learning quickly once they are led in the right direction, she said.
"The new compulsory English classes will boost the number of people interested in learning English. In fact, we've been receiving a number of calls from mothers about our lessons," Tsukada said.
"I believe we are in the final stage of creating a system that can answer their needs."
Meanwhile, a growing number of children are taking the Eiken (Test in Practical English Proficiency) — Japan's most widely used English-language testing program.
More than 100,000 elementary school pupils took the tests in 1999 and the number rose to about 160,000 in 2009, according to the Society for Testing English Proficiency Inc., a nonprofit foundation in Tokyo that administers the tests.
Eiken's junior version — Jido Eiken — which stresses listening comprehension skills designed for young children, attracts around 90,000 takers a year, STEP said.
Many children start learning English at a young age, according to an October STEP survey of 215 Jido Eiken takers and 114 guardians. More than half of the takers started learning English before entering elementary school.
STEP said most elementary schools have already introduced foreign-language lessons, which may have prompted children to learn the language from an early stage.
STEP is also planning to publish free papers from May for elementary school teachers. The papers will offer content the teachers can use as reference, including what games to play and songs to sing in their English lessons.
"We hope these publications help foreign-language activities get conducted smoothly," said Mayuko Hamada, a STEP official. "And it will be good if students can graduate (from elementary school) and start junior high schools liking English."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110302f1.html?
"We kicked off our preliminary research group in the beginning of 2007," Mina Funabashi, who heads the English content management division for elementary school products at Benesse Corp., told The Japan Times.
The publishing giant offers monthly correspondence courses to a whopping 1.77 million children, or 1 out of every 4 elementary school students in Japan. Yet despite having supplied English textbooks for preteens since 1989, their syllabus needed an overhaul since the lessons were designed for introduction to junior high school English courses.
With the government setting a new objective to nurture English communication skills among fifth- and sixth-graders, Benesse gathered a number of university professors, English education experts and teachers from both private and public schools to come up with the perfect textbook. Their goal was simple but hard to achieve: to develop a syllabus that would improve English communication skills while cultivating basic language knowledge.
Whereas the previous textbooks were designed for junior high and required that students learn sentences by repeating them out loud five times, a completely different approach was needed to reach the new goal.
Nurturing children's interest in overseas cultures was also deemed "crucial for students to continue wanting to learn the language," Funabashi explained.
What Funabashi's team came up with is exquisite — a textbook that essentially bridges the gap between what interests elementary school children and what they need to learn, instilling in them not only a larger vocabulary but also cultural understanding and weaving the experience into a fabric of their English knowledge.
One chapter of the new textbook, for example, shows an American girl visiting Japan and trying wasabi-flavored potato chips. A Japanese boy warns that the chips are spicy, but the girl takes a bite anyway and is surprised by the zesty taste.
The story is accompanied by colorful manga of the scenes, but does not include any Japanese translations. On the next page, there are illustrations of cookies, chocolate, gum and popcorn to further augment vocabulary.
According to Funabashi, a trial edition of the textbook received mixed reviews from parents. They were worried that the vocabulary was too undemanding, and some were taken aback that the book didn't have the Japanese version of the conversation.
But that was exactly Benesse's goal — to grab kids' attention and implant new knowledge.
"It is said that there are approximately 1,200 (English terms) frequently used by an elementary school student in Japan" whose meanings are understood, Funabashi explained, such as potato chips, chocolate and popcorn. Those terms were used in the textbook on purpose to work as a "bridge," or to stand out and get a student to pay attention to English dialogue.
Because potato chips is an English phrase they are already familiar with, students are more likely to be able to connect the dots into a sentence. The conversation becomes comprehensible as they pick up the words they know and digest them, Funabashi said.
"They don't need to have a translation," Funabashi said, adding that in the long run, this nurtures the students' ability to absorb vast amounts of English and ultimately enable them to converse.
Benesse's new English textbooks have been in use by fifth-graders since April 2009. A survey by the company revealed that the number of pupils interested in the course is on the rise, even among those who score lower in school. Calls from mothers inquiring about English studies are also growing, Funabashi said.
"We tell them there is nothing to worry about with the upcoming change in English teaching. We are ready to answer the needs of our customers," said Kaori Sakamoto, a manager at Benesse's corporate communications department.
All systems are also go at ECC Junior, where approximately 200,000 elementary school pupils — more than any other language school — are enrolled. The chain operates about 10,000 classrooms across the country, and has expertise in teaching English to youngsters, some only 2 years old.
Kuniko Tsukada, deputy general division manager of ECC Junior, said tutors in the company have already undergone training to learn the new curriculum at public elementary schools.
Offering enjoyable classes with quizzes and story-reading has been and will remain a core part of the program, but ECC will push for what it calls teaching "global-standard English skills," or the required level of English for studying and working abroad by the time a student graduates from high school, she said.
"What stands out in our new program is the volume of reading and writing that a student goes through," Tsukada told The Japan Times. The company went this route after examining what interests most preteen elementary school children, ECC Junior said in a statement, explaining the idea behind its super-learning programs, which include extensive reading and writing.
The shift was an effort to maximize a student's exposure to new English expressions.
"Dancing and singing could work, but only for younger kids," Tsukada said. Instead, the sense of being able to communicate beyond illustrative sentences such as "I like apples" and "this is a pen" is what appeared to be most stimulating for the older students. ECC Junior concluded that it becomes essential for fifth- and sixth-graders to push themselves harder to acquire basic English skills, including learning more words and phrases.
That is how the Vocathlon program was developed in 2004. It has been effective in maximizing students' capabilities, ECC Junior said.
While previous vocabulary lessons involved teachers holding a drawing and students reciting the name of the item shown, the new method is operated in a completely different manner.
In the Vocathlon program, each student opens a page in a textbook where random items are illustrated, and then repeats the corresponding English term.
"Some fifth- and sixth-graders can go beyond 160 items, which is amazing because even an adult would have difficulty doing that," Tsukada said, adding that speed training and a rich vocabulary ultimately enhance English communication.
Many students surprise the teachers by going beyond their expectations, learning quickly once they are led in the right direction, she said.
"The new compulsory English classes will boost the number of people interested in learning English. In fact, we've been receiving a number of calls from mothers about our lessons," Tsukada said.
"I believe we are in the final stage of creating a system that can answer their needs."
Meanwhile, a growing number of children are taking the Eiken (Test in Practical English Proficiency) — Japan's most widely used English-language testing program.
More than 100,000 elementary school pupils took the tests in 1999 and the number rose to about 160,000 in 2009, according to the Society for Testing English Proficiency Inc., a nonprofit foundation in Tokyo that administers the tests.
Eiken's junior version — Jido Eiken — which stresses listening comprehension skills designed for young children, attracts around 90,000 takers a year, STEP said.
Many children start learning English at a young age, according to an October STEP survey of 215 Jido Eiken takers and 114 guardians. More than half of the takers started learning English before entering elementary school.
STEP said most elementary schools have already introduced foreign-language lessons, which may have prompted children to learn the language from an early stage.
STEP is also planning to publish free papers from May for elementary school teachers. The papers will offer content the teachers can use as reference, including what games to play and songs to sing in their English lessons.
"We hope these publications help foreign-language activities get conducted smoothly," said Mayuko Hamada, a STEP official. "And it will be good if students can graduate (from elementary school) and start junior high schools liking English."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110302f1.html?
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
IUJ Offers Smart Phone App Course
n the 2011 Spring Term (April-June), Graduate School of International Management (GSIM) at the International University of Japan (IUJ) will offer a course to introduce developing business applications (Apps) for smart phones based on iPhone/iPad Operating System.
Commenting on this course, Dean Philip Sugai said "This course is another great opportunity for our business school to provide our students with the most up to date and forward thinking skills for new business challenges, and as far as our research can uncover, we are the first business school in Japan to do so."
The course titled "Business Apps with iPhone/iPad/iPod" will be listed under the E-Business Management Program. A new lab has been set up now with Apple machines with WiFi capabilities inside the E-Lab. The course with practical lab environment will be taught by Prof. Jay Rajasekera (Professor of Management Systems and Strategy, formally a researcher at the AT&T Bell Laboratories) and Dr. Zaw Zaw Aung (Doctor of Engineering in Information Science, Nagaoka University of Technology). IUJ joins such prominent schools as Stanford University in the US to offer this kind of course in a business school curriculum. Response to this new course is very positive, with the registration already exceeding the capacity as of March 1.
http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=23730
Commenting on this course, Dean Philip Sugai said "This course is another great opportunity for our business school to provide our students with the most up to date and forward thinking skills for new business challenges, and as far as our research can uncover, we are the first business school in Japan to do so."
The course titled "Business Apps with iPhone/iPad/iPod" will be listed under the E-Business Management Program. A new lab has been set up now with Apple machines with WiFi capabilities inside the E-Lab. The course with practical lab environment will be taught by Prof. Jay Rajasekera (Professor of Management Systems and Strategy, formally a researcher at the AT&T Bell Laboratories) and Dr. Zaw Zaw Aung (Doctor of Engineering in Information Science, Nagaoka University of Technology). IUJ joins such prominent schools as Stanford University in the US to offer this kind of course in a business school curriculum. Response to this new course is very positive, with the registration already exceeding the capacity as of March 1.
http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=23730
Monday, February 28, 2011
Are schools ready for English?
Come April, English classes will become mandatory for fifth- and sixth-graders, but a 29-year-old elementary school teacher in Tokyo has heard the concerns of her overwhelmed colleagues, especially the older ones, who have neither taught the language nor studied it since their university years decades ago.
Preparing for the English classes is a new burden for teachers. Some believe they must teach detailed rules of grammar and demonstrate proper pronunciation, even though this isn't required.
"Many teachers are considerably repulsed. They feel they can't make mistakes and fear they may speak incorrect English" during the lessons, said the Tokyo teacher, who did not want her name used.
Starting with fiscal 2011, the government will require all elementary schools to introduce compulsory foreign-language lessons — basically English — for fifth- and sixth-graders. All kids in this age group will have at least one lesson per week.
While many parents and other Japanese welcome the government's move to provide English education at an early age, some experts are concerned that most teachers are being forced to venture into uncharted waters with little preparation. In addition, devoting just one period a week to English won't be near enough to nurture children's language ability.
"With one lesson a week, it's like pouring water onto a desert. It will immediately evaporate — not create an oasis," said Haruo Erikawa, an English-education professor of Wakayama University.
Japan has lagged behind its neighboring countries in introducing English lessons at an early age, and its impact is obvious in various statistics.
TOEFL data for 2004-2005 put Japan next to last in Asia, with an average score of only 191 points — just one point higher than North Korea. Afghanistan exceeded Japan by seven points, while Singapore had the top score at 254.
"To further internationalize the Japanese people and nurture human resources who can work competently in international society, it is necessary to bolster English education as a national strategy," the education ministry said in a 2006 report on the language.
English education has long been mandatory in junior high schools, but such classes are not totally new to a majority of elementary schools because of the "integrated learning class" concept, which was introduced in 1998.
Though this class was not specifically designed for learning foreign languages, many elementary schools decided to use it for English conversation lessons. In fiscal 2009, 97.8 percent of elementary schools nationwide were planning to have language lessons for fifth- and sixth-graders, the education ministry said.
Owing to the lack of a unified English teaching program at the elementary school level, gaps in quality among regions emerged as some schools offer two to three lessons per week, while at other schools they are much more infrequent. The material being taught also varies, with some schools teaching the alphabet and others providing opportunities to speak with native English speakers.
To narrow these disparities, the ministry introduced a uniform curriculum. The move appears to have wide support.
According to a nationwide survey in December conducted by the Japan Public Opinion Survey Association, 87 percent of 1,924 adults supported compulsory English education for fifth- and sixth-graders.
Education ministry officials stressed that the new English lessons, Gaikokugo Katsudo (Foreign Language Activities), will be different from English lessons at the junior high level, and students won't be drilled on comprehensive grammar rules or vocabulary.
The goal of the new program is to help children experience and understand other languages and cultures, motivate them to actively communicate with foreigners and become familiar with the sounds and basic expressions of another language, the ministry says.
It already distributed teaching materials called Eigo Note (English Notes), as well as CDs and other supplemental instruction materials, to teachers and students nationwide. Eigo Note includes lessons in greetings, games, self-introduction and town guides.
Despite high expectations among the public and government officials, some experts and teachers say the curriculum is full of problems that need to be fixed.
To begin with, many argue that training for teachers is far from sufficient.
According to a survey last July and August by the think tank Benesse Educational Research and Development Center on 4,709 elementary school teachers nationwide, 68.1 percent of classroom teachers said they don't have much confidence or they have no confidence in teaching English.
A 27-year-old male teacher at an elementary school in Kanagawa Prefecture said many teachers aren't yet at the stage where they can comfortably teach the language.
The teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one of his colleagues told him he was afraid of giving lessons with his broken English, while another pointed out the possibility that this will merely cause children to dislike English.
To help teachers, the education ministry has put together a guideline and offered a training program since fiscal 2007.
The ministry and other specialists teach education officials at the prefectural level how to proceed with lessons. Those officials then train representatives from each school. Both training programs last about five days. After that, the representatives of each school are supposed to train their colleagues for a total of around 30 hours over a two-year period.
However, the survey by Benesse suggests the reality has turned out rather different.
According to the survey, classroom teachers received an average of 6.8 hours of training at their schools between April 2009 and last August, and more than 20 percent said they participated in "zero" hours of training.
On problems that they face, 57.9 percent of curriculum coordinators said the time is very limited for developing teaching materials and preparing for lessons.
More than 75 percent of curriculum coordinators even suggested English should be taught in classrooms by specialist instructors.
Wakayama University's Erikawa said it is hard for many schoolteachers to teach English because they haven't studied the language in a long time.
"For example, the average age of elementary school teachers in Osaka is around 50. This means they haven't used English for almost 30 years since graduating from university," he said.
According to Erikawa, this isn't the first attempt at teaching English at the elementary school level. English lessons were introduced around the middle of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) at some elementary schools. But the poor ability of the teachers at that level led to junior high school teachers saying the elementary school curriculum was worthless and should be abolished.
"I am extremely worried (that) we will repeat the same mistake," he said.
Although there are many hurdles to overcome, teachers have to face reality and move forward. And experts suggest more can be done in the long term.
Mitsue Allen-Tamai, an English-education professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, said the government should eventually introduce English education in earlier grades as young children can easily recognize and learn the unfamiliar sounds of a foreign language.
Frequency of lessons should also be increased to at least three times a week and more material should be taught so children won't panic when they get to junior high, where the curriculum is heavier, she said.
The government should continue to work harder to reinforce English education at public schools so there won't be a wider gap in English proficiency among children, she added.
"Otherwise, while rich kids can get sufficient (English) education, those who are not will be left out," she said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110226f1.html
Preparing for the English classes is a new burden for teachers. Some believe they must teach detailed rules of grammar and demonstrate proper pronunciation, even though this isn't required.
"Many teachers are considerably repulsed. They feel they can't make mistakes and fear they may speak incorrect English" during the lessons, said the Tokyo teacher, who did not want her name used.
Starting with fiscal 2011, the government will require all elementary schools to introduce compulsory foreign-language lessons — basically English — for fifth- and sixth-graders. All kids in this age group will have at least one lesson per week.
While many parents and other Japanese welcome the government's move to provide English education at an early age, some experts are concerned that most teachers are being forced to venture into uncharted waters with little preparation. In addition, devoting just one period a week to English won't be near enough to nurture children's language ability.
"With one lesson a week, it's like pouring water onto a desert. It will immediately evaporate — not create an oasis," said Haruo Erikawa, an English-education professor of Wakayama University.
Japan has lagged behind its neighboring countries in introducing English lessons at an early age, and its impact is obvious in various statistics.
TOEFL data for 2004-2005 put Japan next to last in Asia, with an average score of only 191 points — just one point higher than North Korea. Afghanistan exceeded Japan by seven points, while Singapore had the top score at 254.
"To further internationalize the Japanese people and nurture human resources who can work competently in international society, it is necessary to bolster English education as a national strategy," the education ministry said in a 2006 report on the language.
English education has long been mandatory in junior high schools, but such classes are not totally new to a majority of elementary schools because of the "integrated learning class" concept, which was introduced in 1998.
Though this class was not specifically designed for learning foreign languages, many elementary schools decided to use it for English conversation lessons. In fiscal 2009, 97.8 percent of elementary schools nationwide were planning to have language lessons for fifth- and sixth-graders, the education ministry said.
Owing to the lack of a unified English teaching program at the elementary school level, gaps in quality among regions emerged as some schools offer two to three lessons per week, while at other schools they are much more infrequent. The material being taught also varies, with some schools teaching the alphabet and others providing opportunities to speak with native English speakers.
To narrow these disparities, the ministry introduced a uniform curriculum. The move appears to have wide support.
According to a nationwide survey in December conducted by the Japan Public Opinion Survey Association, 87 percent of 1,924 adults supported compulsory English education for fifth- and sixth-graders.
Education ministry officials stressed that the new English lessons, Gaikokugo Katsudo (Foreign Language Activities), will be different from English lessons at the junior high level, and students won't be drilled on comprehensive grammar rules or vocabulary.
The goal of the new program is to help children experience and understand other languages and cultures, motivate them to actively communicate with foreigners and become familiar with the sounds and basic expressions of another language, the ministry says.
It already distributed teaching materials called Eigo Note (English Notes), as well as CDs and other supplemental instruction materials, to teachers and students nationwide. Eigo Note includes lessons in greetings, games, self-introduction and town guides.
Despite high expectations among the public and government officials, some experts and teachers say the curriculum is full of problems that need to be fixed.
To begin with, many argue that training for teachers is far from sufficient.
According to a survey last July and August by the think tank Benesse Educational Research and Development Center on 4,709 elementary school teachers nationwide, 68.1 percent of classroom teachers said they don't have much confidence or they have no confidence in teaching English.
A 27-year-old male teacher at an elementary school in Kanagawa Prefecture said many teachers aren't yet at the stage where they can comfortably teach the language.
The teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one of his colleagues told him he was afraid of giving lessons with his broken English, while another pointed out the possibility that this will merely cause children to dislike English.
To help teachers, the education ministry has put together a guideline and offered a training program since fiscal 2007.
The ministry and other specialists teach education officials at the prefectural level how to proceed with lessons. Those officials then train representatives from each school. Both training programs last about five days. After that, the representatives of each school are supposed to train their colleagues for a total of around 30 hours over a two-year period.
However, the survey by Benesse suggests the reality has turned out rather different.
According to the survey, classroom teachers received an average of 6.8 hours of training at their schools between April 2009 and last August, and more than 20 percent said they participated in "zero" hours of training.
On problems that they face, 57.9 percent of curriculum coordinators said the time is very limited for developing teaching materials and preparing for lessons.
More than 75 percent of curriculum coordinators even suggested English should be taught in classrooms by specialist instructors.
Wakayama University's Erikawa said it is hard for many schoolteachers to teach English because they haven't studied the language in a long time.
"For example, the average age of elementary school teachers in Osaka is around 50. This means they haven't used English for almost 30 years since graduating from university," he said.
According to Erikawa, this isn't the first attempt at teaching English at the elementary school level. English lessons were introduced around the middle of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) at some elementary schools. But the poor ability of the teachers at that level led to junior high school teachers saying the elementary school curriculum was worthless and should be abolished.
"I am extremely worried (that) we will repeat the same mistake," he said.
Although there are many hurdles to overcome, teachers have to face reality and move forward. And experts suggest more can be done in the long term.
Mitsue Allen-Tamai, an English-education professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, said the government should eventually introduce English education in earlier grades as young children can easily recognize and learn the unfamiliar sounds of a foreign language.
Frequency of lessons should also be increased to at least three times a week and more material should be taught so children won't panic when they get to junior high, where the curriculum is heavier, she said.
The government should continue to work harder to reinforce English education at public schools so there won't be a wider gap in English proficiency among children, she added.
"Otherwise, while rich kids can get sufficient (English) education, those who are not will be left out," she said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110226f1.html
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Lin Kobayashi explains that in the high school that she attended in Canada, in the early 1990s, there were 86 different nationalities represented in her year alone. Needless to say, Japan has no schools that could compete in terms of diversity, even today. But, if the 36-year-old Tokyo native gets her way, that situation might be about to change.
Kobayashi is part of a small but well-connected group of people working toward the establishment of a fully residential, international senior high school in the mountain-top resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. At present, they are finalizing the purchase of a suitable plot of land and are hoping to open what will be called the International School of Asia, Karuizawa, in 2013.
"One key difference to the usual Japanese schools will be that the new school will offer the International Baccalaureate," Kobayashi told The Japan Times late last month. "All the classes will be held in English."
With English fluency, graduates of the new school will be grounded in an essential tool of international communication, Kobayashi believes, but there is another, even more important skill that she hopes to instill: the ability to lead.
"In Japan, when people talk of leadership, they tend to imagine someone who is very extroverted, a bit arrogant — someone who is really out there," Kobayashi said. "But I think it is more complex than that. The task of a school is to help children identify their own strengths, to build their self confidence. And if you can achieve that, then you are giving every student the chance to become a leader in their respective fields."
In order to teach this kind of leadership, Kobayashi believes it is necessary to make the school fully residential, so that all the students live together.
"Leadership is something that can't be taught in the classroom," Kobayashi explained. "The school I went to in Canada was a boarding school, and it gave us the chance to interact as groups and in a range of contexts."
Kobayashi's alma mater, United World College, a secular school with branches dotted around the world, is serving as a model in another aspect too. "When we were at school we were way out on Vancouver Island," Kobayashi said. "There was nothing else to do around there, so we interacted with nature and we studied."
She believes the small town of Karuizawa, which was adopted as a resort town in the late 19th century by Christian missionaries, will provide similarly beneficial isolation.
The plan, which envisions the creation of a school offering three years of senior high school tuition, with about 50 students in each year, has been funded largely by private donations to date. A foundation has been established to pursue the plan, and it boasts an advisory board positively bristling with corporate muscle — Nobuyuki Idei, the former CEO of Sony, for example.
Kobayashi's key partner in the project is hedge-fund manager Mamoru Tamiya, who is currently sending his children to existing international schools in Japan, but would prefer they went to a school offering even more diversity and a more clearly defined Japanese identity.
"The curriculum of the new school will include not only classes on Japanese language but also in Japanese culture and arts," explained Kobayashi. Emphasis will also be placed on creative thinking and design.
Kobayashi has scoured the globe to get leading educators involved in building the school's curriculum. Many of them have been helping out at summer school programs that have been organized for the last two summers in preparation for the school's opening. Last year, Jim Masker, a history teacher from the independent, residential Cate School in southern California, attended, along with others such as Vancouver School Board teacher Kelley Hishon.
A fter graduating from United World College in 1993, Kobayashi returned to Japan to attend the University of Tokyo. She joined the Japan Bank for International Cooperation after she graduated, and then spent two years at the United Nations Children's Fund.
"I spent a lot of time working on non-formal education programs for street children in the Philippines," she recalled. "The kids had to work during the day, so we'd put up notes around the town saying things like, 'We will do a basic literacy class here in the corner of this park tonight. . . . The kids were so keen to learn once they were given the chance."
But, Kobayashi gradually started to realize that while she could affect change on a small scale, more fundamental change would require improvements in local leadership.
"The people in leadership positions in those countries — in both politics and business, too — needed to be given education covering ethical mindsets and values," she said. Kobayashi decided she needed to build a school that would educate the next generation of leaders for Asia.
Kobayashi is keen to point out that the new school will not cater exclusively to children of affluent families. The projected school fees stand at ¥2.5 million for tuition and ¥1 million for boarding fees. But, she says, full scholarships will be offered to a quarter of all students and partial scholarships will be offered to a further quarter.
Furthermore, 30 to 40 percent of all students will be from Asian countries other than Japan.
"The school I attended in Canada was a full-scholarship school. Everyone was on scholarships, and that meant that you had not only diversity of nationality, but diversity of socio-economic background, too," she explained. "I was at school with kids from Lesotho and my best friends were from Mexico and Nicaragua. It really opened my eyes to how lucky I was, how much I had taken for granted as a member of the normal, lower-middle class in Japan. That was the time I really became interested in the power of education."
When asked what challenges remained before her planned school could become a reality, Kobayashi explained that completing the purchase of a plot of land would be a key step. "A lot of our donors have pledged money, but they want to see the land — and that's natural," she said. "When we get that done, hopefully by March, then things will start to progress more swiftly."
In the meantime, Kobayashi is working on this year's summer camp. "Bringing kids together in Karuizawa for the summer camps really gives you a clear picture of the school's potential," she explained. Last year she arranged for some students to attend from Myanmar and the Philippines — all on scholarships. And she was touched by what happened as a result. "At the end of the program some of the Japanese students came up to me and said they had been so inspired to hear about the lives of the Philippine students that they wanted to learn Tagalog."
Applications for the International School of Asia, Karuizawa, Summer Camp 2011 are currently being taken. Children in grades eight through 10 as of Sept. 1, 2011, are eligible. Fees are ¥220,000 and, as always, full and partial scholarships are available. See isak.jp/en/ for details
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fs20110217a3.html
Kobayashi is part of a small but well-connected group of people working toward the establishment of a fully residential, international senior high school in the mountain-top resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. At present, they are finalizing the purchase of a suitable plot of land and are hoping to open what will be called the International School of Asia, Karuizawa, in 2013.
"One key difference to the usual Japanese schools will be that the new school will offer the International Baccalaureate," Kobayashi told The Japan Times late last month. "All the classes will be held in English."
With English fluency, graduates of the new school will be grounded in an essential tool of international communication, Kobayashi believes, but there is another, even more important skill that she hopes to instill: the ability to lead.
"In Japan, when people talk of leadership, they tend to imagine someone who is very extroverted, a bit arrogant — someone who is really out there," Kobayashi said. "But I think it is more complex than that. The task of a school is to help children identify their own strengths, to build their self confidence. And if you can achieve that, then you are giving every student the chance to become a leader in their respective fields."
In order to teach this kind of leadership, Kobayashi believes it is necessary to make the school fully residential, so that all the students live together.
"Leadership is something that can't be taught in the classroom," Kobayashi explained. "The school I went to in Canada was a boarding school, and it gave us the chance to interact as groups and in a range of contexts."
Kobayashi's alma mater, United World College, a secular school with branches dotted around the world, is serving as a model in another aspect too. "When we were at school we were way out on Vancouver Island," Kobayashi said. "There was nothing else to do around there, so we interacted with nature and we studied."
She believes the small town of Karuizawa, which was adopted as a resort town in the late 19th century by Christian missionaries, will provide similarly beneficial isolation.
The plan, which envisions the creation of a school offering three years of senior high school tuition, with about 50 students in each year, has been funded largely by private donations to date. A foundation has been established to pursue the plan, and it boasts an advisory board positively bristling with corporate muscle — Nobuyuki Idei, the former CEO of Sony, for example.
Kobayashi's key partner in the project is hedge-fund manager Mamoru Tamiya, who is currently sending his children to existing international schools in Japan, but would prefer they went to a school offering even more diversity and a more clearly defined Japanese identity.
"The curriculum of the new school will include not only classes on Japanese language but also in Japanese culture and arts," explained Kobayashi. Emphasis will also be placed on creative thinking and design.
Kobayashi has scoured the globe to get leading educators involved in building the school's curriculum. Many of them have been helping out at summer school programs that have been organized for the last two summers in preparation for the school's opening. Last year, Jim Masker, a history teacher from the independent, residential Cate School in southern California, attended, along with others such as Vancouver School Board teacher Kelley Hishon.
A fter graduating from United World College in 1993, Kobayashi returned to Japan to attend the University of Tokyo. She joined the Japan Bank for International Cooperation after she graduated, and then spent two years at the United Nations Children's Fund.
"I spent a lot of time working on non-formal education programs for street children in the Philippines," she recalled. "The kids had to work during the day, so we'd put up notes around the town saying things like, 'We will do a basic literacy class here in the corner of this park tonight. . . . The kids were so keen to learn once they were given the chance."
But, Kobayashi gradually started to realize that while she could affect change on a small scale, more fundamental change would require improvements in local leadership.
"The people in leadership positions in those countries — in both politics and business, too — needed to be given education covering ethical mindsets and values," she said. Kobayashi decided she needed to build a school that would educate the next generation of leaders for Asia.
Kobayashi is keen to point out that the new school will not cater exclusively to children of affluent families. The projected school fees stand at ¥2.5 million for tuition and ¥1 million for boarding fees. But, she says, full scholarships will be offered to a quarter of all students and partial scholarships will be offered to a further quarter.
Furthermore, 30 to 40 percent of all students will be from Asian countries other than Japan.
"The school I attended in Canada was a full-scholarship school. Everyone was on scholarships, and that meant that you had not only diversity of nationality, but diversity of socio-economic background, too," she explained. "I was at school with kids from Lesotho and my best friends were from Mexico and Nicaragua. It really opened my eyes to how lucky I was, how much I had taken for granted as a member of the normal, lower-middle class in Japan. That was the time I really became interested in the power of education."
When asked what challenges remained before her planned school could become a reality, Kobayashi explained that completing the purchase of a plot of land would be a key step. "A lot of our donors have pledged money, but they want to see the land — and that's natural," she said. "When we get that done, hopefully by March, then things will start to progress more swiftly."
In the meantime, Kobayashi is working on this year's summer camp. "Bringing kids together in Karuizawa for the summer camps really gives you a clear picture of the school's potential," she explained. Last year she arranged for some students to attend from Myanmar and the Philippines — all on scholarships. And she was touched by what happened as a result. "At the end of the program some of the Japanese students came up to me and said they had been so inspired to hear about the lives of the Philippine students that they wanted to learn Tagalog."
Applications for the International School of Asia, Karuizawa, Summer Camp 2011 are currently being taken. Children in grades eight through 10 as of Sept. 1, 2011, are eligible. Fees are ¥220,000 and, as always, full and partial scholarships are available. See isak.jp/en/ for details
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fs20110217a3.html
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