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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1994 > PART II Chapter 10 Section 3 2

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PART II Recent Trends and Developments in Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture
Chapter 10. Internationalization of Education, Culture, and Sports
Section 3. International Exchange and Cooperation in Education, Culture, and Sports
2. International Exchange and Cooperation in Education



(1) Exchange Activities for Teachers and Other Educational Personnel

As part of its in-service training for teachers in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture sends approximately 5,000 teachers overseas each year. The Ministry is also working to foster mutual understanding and education that contributes to understanding of other countries by sending secondary school teachers to Australia, New Zealand, and other countries and by accepting exchange teachers from those countries.

There are also exchange programs for university teachers and other university personnel. In fiscal 1992, 8,461 teachers and researchers were sent overseas and 4,670 foreign teachers and researchers were brought to Japan under such programs as the Overseas Research Scholars Program, the Foreign Teachers Program, and other programs administered by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, as well as programs administered by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. There is also the Fulbright Program, which is targeted specifically at exchange of researchers and other scholars between Japan and the United States. Since 1952 approximately 7,300 Japanese and Americans, including researchers and graduate students, have received fellowships under this program. (The total for fiscal 1993 was 110 graduate students, researchers, and others.)

Women have become actively involved in international exchange since the United Nations Decade for Women. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture provides subsidies for women's international exchange activities by local governments and women's organizations. In addition, the National Women's Education Centre administers the Internationl Forum on Intercultural Exchange and provides a variety of training programs, such as the Training Course for Information Processing on Women's Issues for Overseas Specialists, which is targeted at female government administrators in the Asia-Pacific region.

In addition to these activities, the Ministry invites leading foreign scholars in the fields of education, science, and culture to visit Japan to lecture and to exchange views with Japanese scholars. There is also a program to send Japanese leaders in social education overseas for discussions with foreign experts in that field. Projects to be implemented in fiscal 1994 included an exchange of views among adult-education experts from Asia and the South Pacific on the theme "Women, Literacy, Development: Challenges for the Twenty-first Century."


(2) Youth Exchange Activities
1. Youth international exchange activities:

Exchange programs for young people include the Japan Study Tour Program for Youth, under which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invites young people from other countries to Japan; the Management and Coordination Agency's Ship for World Youth program; and the Friendship Program for the Twenty-first Century, which is administered by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). In addition, prefectural and municipal governments, social education organizations, and nongovernmental organizations are actively involved in youth international exchange activities.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture provides subsidies for youth international exchange programs conducted by various organizations, including the National Council of Youth Organizations in Japan, the World Youth Visit Exchange Association, the National Association of Boy Scouts of Nippon, and the Japan Youth Volunteers Association. In fiscal 1993 a total of 679 people were sent overseas under these programs, while 500 people were brought to Japan.

National youth education facilities, especially the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center, also implement a variety of international exchange programs. These include the Seminar for Leaders of Youth Educational Facilities in Asia and the Asian Youth Meeting.


2. Overseas school excursions:

Overseas school excursions provide opportunities to meet people of other countries and experience other cultures. The benefits include better international understanding. In fiscal 1992 a total of 349 upper secondary schools (63 public schools and 286 private schools) organized overseas school excursions. A total of 79,332 students participated. The main destinations were the Republic of Korea (132 schools) and the United States (64 schools).

When organizing these trips, it is necessary to take special care over safety and other aspects, since transportation conditions, telecommunication systems, medical care systems, and other factors in destination countries differ from those in Japan. Upper secondary schools take all necessary precautions, such as obtaining the necessary information through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and seeking expert advice before undertaking overseas study trips.


3. Study abroad and acceptance programs for upper secondary school students:

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture encourages international exchange among upper secondary school students by informing upper secondary schools about programs operated by incorporated nonprofit organizations that are experienced in this field, such as the AFS Japan Association and the YFU Japan Foundation, and by providing subsidies for some programs. The Ministry also sends Japanese upper secondary school students overseas in cooperation with programs operated by the governments of Australia, Germany, and the United States. In addition, upper secondary school students from other countries are welcomed to Japan. These include students from countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and from sister cities in the Asia-Pacific region who are studying Japanese. In fiscal 1993 a total of 2,166 Japanese upper secondary school students were sent overseas, while 1,228 foreign upper secondary school students were welcomed to Japan.


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