Foreign students in Japan. (Photo: VNA)Tokyo (VNA) – Japan’s Education, Culture,Sports, Science, and Technology Ministry has launched a project to strengthenglobalisation and foster internationally competitive human resources.
“Sekai x Manabi no Plan” (World x learning plan) is expectedto increase the number of Japanese students who study abroad and boost theacceptance of overseas students in the country, plus support universities thatare keen to expand overseas.
The ministry plans to improve English-language skills inelementary and junior high schools, promote international-exchange activitiesat junior high and high schools through online activities and other means, andwiden the availability of mid- to long-term scholarships for universitystudents studying abroad.
Under the plan, exchanges between Japanese high schoolstudents and counterparts from the Group of Seven industrialised nations andAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries will also beencouraged. Furthermore, the project will urge universities to formulate jointeducational programmes with universities in those countries.
Aiming to boost globalisation, the ministry will providedomestic universities with financial support to establish campuses at overseaspartner universities to offer Japan-focused classes.
In April, the government’s Council for the Creation of FutureEducation proposed a plan that would see 500,000 Japanese students dispatchedoverseas and 400,000 foreign students accepted annually by 2033.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 222,000 Japanese studentsstudied overseas and 318,000 foreign students studied in Japan.
The ministry intends to include measures and expenses for theplan in its budget request for the next fiscal year./.
