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