The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has been involved in a series of discussions on developing a framework for university exchange with quality assurance in the East Asian region, focusing primarily on the three countries of Japan, China and Korea. In order to share the results of these discussions and deepen cooperative ties in higher education among the countries of East Asia, the International Symposium on Exchange among Universities with Quality Assurance in East Asian Region will be held. The symposium, which was arranged through the cooperation of all the participants, had to be postponed due to the disaster which hit Japan in March. On this occasion, we would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for all the warm support and sympathy which was sent from all over the world, and to announce that we are now ready to welcome you to Tokyo.

The East Asian region has become closely interrelated in terms of economic activities, and international exchange among universities is expected to flourish. About 90% of the international students that study in Japan are from China, Korea and the other countries of East Asia. Likewise, one third of Japan's 67,000 study abroad students are studying in East Asia.

The three countries have already held three meetings of the Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities based on an agreement made at the Trilateral Summit in 2008 and have begun working on a student exchange framework with credit transfers in an effort to elaborate upon the CAMPUS* Asia concept. Preparations are underway for a pilot program to begin later this year. Furthermore, former Prime Minister Hatoyama's proposal from the year before last for Japan to host a symposium on exchange among universities with quality assurance in East Asia was agreed upon by all three nations.

※) Collective Action for Mobility Program of University Students

To promote student exchange among the countries of East Asia, it is necessary to ensure that exchange students receive quality-assured education keeping in mind the diversity among higher education and university systems in the countries, the different systems for assurance of quality in university education and the varying levels of these systems' development.

Based on the recognition of these issues, this symposium will gather higher education policy-makers (executive level officers), university officials and quality assurance agency representatives to build a shared awareness of each country's systems and to examine methods for exchanges with quality assurance.

1. Dates/Times

Thursday, September 29 13:00 - 18:00
Friday, September 30 10:00 - 12:30

2. Venue

Mita Kaigisho (2-1-8 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
(See map below)

3. Other

Simultaneous Japanese-English interpreting will be provided.

4. News Media Guidelines

To register as press, please e-mail the followings to MEXT (koukaigi@mext.go.jp) by Friday, September 16.
- Institution, Title, Name, Phone number, E-mail address, Date(s) you would like to attend.
A press badge with your institution name specified must be worn at all time to gain access to the symposium.  The symposium is open to video recording by authorized press, however, any non-cooperative behavior against the symposium is strictly prohibited.  Please follow instructions from the staff for camera setup and press seats.  No press center or parking is provided for the news media. 

※ Detailed schedule and agenda below.
※ If you would like to attend, please e-mail the followings to MEXT (koukaigi@mext.go.jp) by Friday, September 16.
- Institution, Title, Name, Phone number, E-mail address, Date(s) you would like to attend.
Please note that we will no longer accept once the symposium has reached capacity regardless of the application period.

Detailed Schedule

[First Day]

13:00 Plenary Session

• Opening Remarks by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
• Keynote speech (M.R. Kalaya TINGSABADH, Ph.D., Advisor to East Asia Academic Cooperation Council ; Vice-President, Chulalongkorn University)
• Progress reports on Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities (Dr. Yuichiro ANZAI, Co-chair of Japan-China-Korea Committee for Promoting Exchange and Cooperation among Universities; Chair of the University Council)

15:00 Working Group Discussions (Participants will be divided into three working groups according to themes dealing with quality assurance)

WG A: Exchange programs with a credit transfer and grading policy

Facilitator: Dr. Kazuo KURODA (Professor, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies; Dean, Center for International Education, Waseda University, Japan)
Repporteur: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nantana GAJASENI（Executive Director, ASEAN University Network）

Presenters:
Dr. Taiji HOTTA (Associate Professor, International Center, Hiroshima University, Japan)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nantana GAJASENI
Dr. Illah SAILAH (Director of Learning and Student Affairs, Ministry of National Education, Indonesia)
Dr. LIN Mengquan (Director of the Evaluation Department of CDGDC, China)

WG B: Attractive education programs in cooperation with industry for the global human resource development

Facilitator: Dr. Katsuichi UCHIDA (Vice-President for International Affairs;  Waseda University, Japan)

Presenters:
Yukio ISHIDA, D.Eng. (Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering; Ex-director of the Education Center for International Students, Nagoya University, Japan)
Prof. Etsuko KATSU (Vice-President International; School of Political Science and Economics, Meiji University, Japan)
Prof. LEE Suk (Pusan National University, Korea)
Assoc. Prof. ANG Siau Gek (National University of Singapore, Singapore) 
Ms. Tomoko HASEGAWA（Deputy Director, Public Relations Bureau, Nippon Keidanren（Japan Business Federation））
Mr. Yasuo ICHIMURA（Managing Director, Japan Foreign Trade Council, Inc.）

WG C: A framework of quality assurance in East Asia

Facilitator: Dr. Syed Ahmad HUSSEIN (President of AQAN, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysian Qualification Agency（MQA）)

Presenters:
Dr. Akihiko KAWAGUCHI (Specially Appointed Professor, National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation, Japan)
Prof. WANG Zhanjun（Deputy Director-General, Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education, P.R. China）
Dr. SEO Min-Won (Director General, Center for University Accreditation, Korean Council for University Education, Korea)
Prof. Sanae MAEDA (Center for General Education, Chiba University, Japan)
Prof. Dr. Kamanto SUNARTO (Chair, National Accreditation Agency for Higher Education （BAN-PT）, Indonesia)

17:50 End of sessions

[Second Day]

10:00 Plenary Session
- Reports from the Chairs of the working groups
- Discussion

12:00 Chair’s Summary

12:15 Closing remarks