JAPANESE GOVERNMENT (MONBUKAGAKUSHO: MEXT) SCHOLARSHIP FOR 2015 (TEACHER TRAINING STUDENTS)

 The MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology) offers scholarships to foreign students who wish to conduct research on school education at Japanese universities under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Program for 2015 as follows:

1.QUALIFICATIONS

(1)Nationality:

 Applicants must have the nationality of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japanese government. Applicants with no official nationality are also eligible to apply. An applicant who has Japanese nationality at the time of application is not eligible. However, persons with dual nationality who hold Japanese nationality and whose place of residence at the time of application is outside of Japan are eligible to apply as long as they choose the nationality of the foreign country and give up their Japanese nationality by the date of their arrival in Japan. Applicant screening will be conducted at the Japanese diplomatic mission in the country of applicant’s nationality.

(2)Age:

 Applicants generally must be born on or after April 2, 1980.

(3)Academic Background:

 In principle, applicants must be graduates of universities or teacher training schools and have worked as teachers at primary or secondary educational institutions or teacher training schools in their home countries for five years in total, as of April 1, 2015. In-service university faculty members are not eligible.

(4)Japanese Language Ability:

 Applicants must be willing to learn Japanese. Applicants must be interested in Japan and be willing to deepen their understanding of Japan after arriving in Japan. Applicants must also have the ability to do research in Japanese and adapt to living in Japan.

(5)Health:

 Applicants must be free from any mental or physical disability that would impede the pursuit of study in Japanese universities.

(6)Arrival in Japan:

 Applicants must be able to arrive in Japan within two weeks from the starting day of the study course set by the university in Japan (usually October) and the period set by the admitting university. (If the applicant arrives in Japan before the designated period for personal reasons, travel expenses to Japan will not be paid. Excluding cases of unavoidable circumstances, if the applicant cannot arrive in Japan during the designated period, the applicant must resign.)

(7)Visa acquisition:

 Applicants must acquire College Student (ryugaku) visas before entering Japan. They then enter Japan with the “College Student” (ryugaku) residence status. Please also note that those who change their visa status to one other than College Student after arrival in Japan will lose their qualification to be Japanese Government Scholarship recipients from the date when their visa status changes.

(8)Others:

 Scholarship recipients must return to their home countries as teachers right after the end of the scholarship period, and be able to apply the results of their research on school education in Japan to their teaching in their home countries. After returning to the home country, former scholarship recipients shall maintain close contact with the university where they studied, cooperate with the conducting of post-return survey questionnaires, participate in events conducted by Japanese diplomatic missions in their country, and work to improve relations between the home country and Japan.

(9)Any applicant who meets any or all of the following conditions is ineligible. If identified after the start of the scholarship period, the applicant will be required to withdraw from the scholarship.

[1] Those who are military personnel or military civilian employees at the time of their arrival in Japan;

[2] Those who have received a Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho scholarship) in the past;

[3] Those who are currently enrolled at a Japanese university with a College Student (ryugaku) residence status; those enrolled, or scheduled to be enrolled, at a Japanese university as a privately financed international student during the period when the scholarship application was filed in the home country until prior to the start of the provision of the scholarship; However, even if the applicant is currently a privately financed international student studying in Japan, this restriction does not apply to an applicant who will certainly finish the current course before the start of the designated course at the Japanese university and will return to the home country;

[4] If an applicant is a grantee of a scholarship from any organization (including any governmental organization of his/her own country) other than the Japanese government (MEXT) (Prospective beneficiaries are included);

[5] Recipients who make a double application for this scholarship to other universities, other embassy recommendations, and the Student Exchange Support Program provided by Japan Student Services Organization(JASSO);

[6] Holders of dual nationality at the time of application who cannot verify that they will give up Japanese nationality by the time of the arrival in Japan.

2.TERM OF SCHOLARSHIP

 The term is the period necessary to complete each university’s training course and should be between October 2015 (or the starting month of the study course) and March 2017. (Extension of the term is not permitted.)

3.SCHOLARSHIP BENEFITS

(1)Allowance:

 143,000 yen per month. (In case that the recipient research in a designated region, 2,000 or 3,000 yen per month will be added. The monetary amount each year may be subject to change due to budgetary reasons.) The scholarship is cancelled in principle if the recipient is absent from the university for an extended period. The scholarship will be also cancelled in principle in the following situations.
 If the recipient has been receiving the scholarship despite his/her falling under any of the following situations, the recipient will be ordered to return the amount of scholarship that he/she received during the period wherein he/she was involved with any of the following situations. 

[1] The recipient is judged to have made a false statement on his/her application;
[2] The recipient has violated any article of his/her pledge to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology;
[3] The recipient has been subjected to disciplinary action like expulsion or removed from registration by the university or institution where preparatory Japanese-language lessons are undertaken;
[4] It has been determined that it will be impossible for the recipient to complete the study course within the standard time period because of poor academic grades or suspension from the university;
[5] The recipient’s status has been changed into one other than College Student as defined in the Appended Table I-4 of the Immigration Act;
[6] The recipient has received a scholarship from another institution (excluding those specified as being for research expenditures).

(2)Transportation:

[1] Transportation to Japan:

 The recipient will be supplied, according to his/her itinerary and route as designated by MEXT, with an economy-class airplane ticket from the international airport nearest to his/her home country residence * to the New Tokyo International Airport or any other international airport that the appointed university usually uses. Expenses such as inland transportation from his/her home address to the international airport, airport tax, airport usage fees, special taxes on travel, or inland transportation within Japan will not be supplied. (*The address in the country of the recipient’s nationality stated in the application form is in principle regarded as the recipient’s “home country residence.”)

[2] Transportation from Japan:

 The recipient who returns to his/her home country within the fixed period after the expiration of his/her scholarship will be supplied, upon application, with an economy-class airplane ticket for travel from the New Tokyo International Airport (or any other international airport that the appointed university uses as a normal route) to the international airport nearest to his/her home address.

(Note 1) Any aviation and accident insurance to and from Japan shall be borne by the recipient.
(Note 2) Should the recipient not return to his/her home country soon after the end of the scholarship period to resume his/her duties, the transportation fee for the return to the home country will not be provided.

(3)Tuition and Other Fees:

 Fees for the entrance examination, matriculation and tuition at universities will be paid by the Japanese Government.

4.DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

 Applicants must submit the following documents together to the Japanese diplomatic missions by the required date. The submitted documents will not be returned.

 

 (Original)

 (Copy)

 (1)[1]Application Form (prescribed forms) 
      [2]Placement Preference Application Form (prescribed form)

2
1

 

 Photographs or digital image (Size: 4.5×3.5 cm, upper half of body, full-faced, hatless) taken within the past 6 months
(should be pasted on each Application Form and Placement Reference Application Form)

3

 

 (2)[3]Certified grade transcript for each academic year and the diploma from the last university attended(issued by that university)

1

1

 (3)[4]Certificate of employment (issued by the present employer)

1

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 (4)[5]Recommendation from the head of the department that the applicant belongs to (any form will be accepted)

1

1

 (5)[6]Medical certificate (prescribed form)

1

1

 (6)[7]If the applicant has qualifications concerning Japanese-language ability, documented proof of such qualifications

 

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(Note 1)Applicants must choose universities and courses which you wish to attend from among those indicated in the booklet Course Guide for Teacher Training Students, and indicate them on the Placement Preference Application Form.
(Note 2)These documents must be written in Japanese or English, and translations in either of these languages should be attached.
(Note 3)Regarding the diploma indicated in (3), a photocopy thereof may be an acceptable substitute. However, this should be attested to by the school authority concerned.
(Note 4)No application will be considered unless the aforementioned application documents and all other necessary attached documents are fully and correctly completed.
(Note 5)Number the documents([1] through [7]) in the right upper corner.

5.SELECTION

(1)The Japanese diplomatic missions will carry out the primary selection of applicants by means of an interview, a written examination(subject : Japanese, English) , and a review of the submitted documents.

(2)Results of the primary selection will be notified on the date separately designated by the Japanese diplomatic missions.

(3)Applicants who pass the primary selection will be recommended by the Japanese diplomatic missions to MEXT.

(4)MEXT will conduct the secondary(final) selection of the applicants recommended by the Japanese diplomatic missions and decide the scholarship recipients.

(5)Results of the secondary selection will be notified on a date separately designated by each Japanese diplomatic missions.

6.PLACEMENT IN AND SPECIALIZED TRAINING AT UNIVERSITIES

(1)The study/training is implemented only in the university/study courses listed in the booklet Course Guide for Teacher Training Students.

(2)MEXT, in consultation with the universities concerned, will decide on the university where each recipient shall be enrolled by taking into consideration his/her Japanese language ability and specialized courses he/she wishes to take. Objections regarding university placement will not be accepted.

(3)The training at universities will be conducted in Japanese, in principle.

(4)The recipient students whose Japanese language ability is insufficient shall take Japanese-language education in a Japanese language study course at the appointed university or at a university designated by MEXT. Japanese -language education is generally provided for six months at the beginning of the program, but some of the accepting universities may conduct Japanese language education parallel to the training.

(5)The training mainly consists of educational administration (examples: educational administration and finance, school management), educational methods (examples: classroom teaching, learning system theory, curriculum, and educational assessment), specialized subject research (examples: mathematics, physics, chemistry, and gymnastics), and observational tours and practice (examples: class observations, participation in special educational activities, and tours of educational research facilities). Guidance plans will be organized flexibly according to the research themes the students wish to study.

(6) A recipient who has completed a specified course at the university concerned will be given a certificate. However, the purpose of this scholarship program is not to obtain a diploma. Therefore, a recipient cannot be enrolled in an undergraduate course at a university or a master’s or a doctorate course at a graduate school as a Japanese-government-sponsored international student during this program or right after its completion. (This same restriction applies to privately financed overseas students enrolled in an undergraduate course at a university or a master’s degree or doctoral course at a graduate school. If the recipient should be enrolled in such a course, the recipient will be required to pay back the entire amount of the scholarship money retroactive to the start of the scholarship payment.)

7.NOTES

(1)Each recipient is advised to learn, before departing for Japan, the Japanese language and to acquire some information on Japanese weather, climate, customs, university education, and conditions in Japan, as well as about the difference between the Japanese legal system and that of his/her home country.

(2)As the first installment of the scholarship payment cannot be provided immediately upon the recipient’s arrival, the recipient should bring approximately US $2,000 or the equivalent to cover immediate needs upon arrival in Japan.

(3)Accommodations:
[1] Residence halls for international students provided by universities:
 Some universities have residence halls for international students. The recipients enrolled at such universities may reside at these residence halls under certain conditions. However, due to the limited number of rooms, some of these facilities may be unavailable.
[2] Private boarding houses or apartments:
 Those who are unable to find accommodation in the aforementioned facilities may live in regular dormitories of the university or in private boarding houses/apartments.
 It is very difficult for recipients with dependents to find appropriate housing in Japan. The recipient is requested to arrive in Japan alone first to secure housing before having his/her spouse and/or family come to Japan.

(4)In addition to the regulations stipulated in this guideline, those necessary to implement the Japanese Government Scholarship are determined by the Japanese Government.

(5)More detailed information on this scholarship program is available at Japanese diplomatic missions.

お問合せ先

高等教育局学生・留学生課留学生交流室

木谷、若谷
電話番号:03-5253-4111(内線2624)

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