Japan promotes study abroad

The programme also aims to substantially alleviate the financial burden on students studying abroad by combining public- and private-sector scholarship programmes.

The number of Japanese students studying abroad has been on a downward trend, with a total of 58,060 in 2010 after peaking in 2004 at 82,945. The Japanese Education Ministry’s analysis has found that students are increasingly reluctant to study abroad for reasons such as overseas study experience not necessarily being an advantage when searching for a job; having to repeat the same year after returning to Japan; and the high cost.

Based on these findings, the Ministry has come up with a vision of creating a "global human resource development community," in which the government, companies and universities join hands to promote studying abroad among students. The Ministry has already set aside 15.3 billion yen (NZ$195 million) for a study-abroad scholarship programme for 32,500 university students and 3,600 high school students - three times the figure for the current fiscal year. 

Participating companies will be asked to select students and offer them seminars before and after they study abroad, in which company employees discuss topics like "why studying abroad is necessary" and "how to make use of your study-abroad experiences in society." The companies are then expected to implement internships and hold company information sessions to effectively link returnees to employment. The government will also encourage participating companies to share information on students with study-abroad experiences in an effort to give them advantages in receiving informal job offers.

In a separate move, the Ministry has also decided that the teaching of English should start from the third grade at elementary school level, rather than the fifth grade under the current system.  It plans to introduce the new system by 2020, with the aim of better preparing students for an international environment in the future.  Third and fourth graders will study English once or twice a week, while fifth and sixth graders will do so three times a week.  While English is not currently designated an official subject, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will upgrade it to an official course for fifth and six graders.