Japan Launches Project to Nurture Global Human Resources

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:41 JST, September 4, 2023

The education ministry revealed an academic project aimed at strengthening globalization and fostering internationally competitive human resources.

“Sekai x Manabi no Plan” (World x learning plan) hopes to increase the number of Japanese students who study abroad and boost the acceptance of overseas students, while supporting universities that are keen to expand overseas.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 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 Group of Seven industrialized nations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries also will be encouraged. Furthermore, the project will urge universities to formulate joint educational programs with universities in those countries.

With an eye on boosting globalization, 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.

The plan aims to boost the nation’s pre-pandemic figures, in which 222,000 Japanese students studied overseas and 318,000 foreign students studied here.

The ministry intends to include measures and expenses for the plan in its budget request for the next fiscal year.