Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1994 > PART II Chapter 10 Section 4 2

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has traditionally responded to inquiries from Japan and overseas through the Information Center of the Association of International Education, Japan. It has held Japan Education Fairs in Southeast Asian countries, and fairs in the United States were planned for fiscal 1994. Within Japan, higher education seminars are held for people studying in Japanese language schools and other institutions with the aim of entering Japanese universities and other institutions of higher education.

In regard to entrant selection for foreign students, the Association of International Education, Japan is implementing the General Examination for Privately Financed Foreign Students and the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It is actively promoting the use of these examinations by universities. Consideration is also being given to the establishment of a system to enable foreign nationals wishing to study in Japan to obtain university entrance approval while still in their own countries. As part of this project, the General Examination for Privately Financed Foreign Students was implemented in Malaysia and Thailand on a trial basis in fiscal 1993. The trials were to continue in fiscal 1994.

The national budget for fiscal 1994 provided for the acceptance of 3,695 new Japanese government scholarship students, an increase of 250 over the previous fiscal year. For many years privately financed foreign students have been assisted through a number of measures, including honors scholarships, reduction or waiving of tuition fees, acceptance of the most highly qualified privately financed students as Japanese government scholarship students, and subsidization of 80% of medical expenses.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture is building dormitories for foreign students at national universities. (By 1993 accommodation for a total of 3,949 students had been provided at 52 universities.) The Ministry is also promoting the accommodation of foreign students in general student dormitories and providing incentives to local governments and other organizations that build dormitories for foreign students. In addition, the Ministry provides assistance to foundations that have programs to provide accommodation in company dormitories. Other measures include an accommodation assistance program offered by the Center for Domestic and Foreign Students.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has undertaken a variety of measures to improve guidance and assistance systems at universities, including the establishment of foreign student centers and student exchange divisions in national universities. Private universities are provided with special subsidies to cover ordinary expenditures. These subsidies are based on such factors as the number of foreign students accepted.

At the request of foreign students who have returned to their own countries, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture distributes specialized journals and conference proceedings and issues invitations for short-term study programs. Other activities designed to maximize the benefits of study in Japan and enable former foreign students to contribute to their own countries include the dispatch of instructors to assist with research.