Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture1999 > Part2 Q55 |
A:TVhile maintaining the Plan to Accept100,000Foreign Students which aims to have100,000foreign students in Japan by thebeginning of the2P' century,we will work toachieve a quantitative expansion by placingmore importance on the care of'each indi-vidual student to promote student ex-chartges..
Under the Plan to Accept100,000Foreign Stu-dents,the number of foreign students studying in Japan,which was a mere10,000in1983,had increased to approximately54,000by1995with positive support for foreign students from relat-ed groups and local communities,including people involved with universities.However,the number of foreign students has stagnated over the last few years as the cost of living in Japan is comparatively high,there is a shortage of information overseas about studying in Japan and the economy has seen a recent downturn.The provision of higher education institutions in Asian countries has also had an impact.As a result,as of May1998,there were51,000foreign students,and thus the target of100,000is unlikely to be achieved in the near future.At the same time,the target of100,000is not overly ambitious considering the expectations of the international community toward Japan and the scale of higher education in Japan.In addi-tion,MESSC will maintain the target in future and exert the utmost effort in view of the in-creasing significance of international exchange through foreign students-said to be the"am-bassadors of the future"-the efforts of relevant persons and the understanding of the Japanese people in regard to the target.Specifically,we will promote a variety of measures,including an increase in the intake of Japanese government scholarship students who-se expenses are covered by the central govern-ment,the provision of scholarships for self-financed foreign students who come to Japan at their own expense,and the provision of high-quality and low-cost lodgings.In addition,in cooperation with the Science and Technology Agency and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry(MITI),we are currently building the Kokusai Kenkyu Koryu Daigaku Mura(In-ternational University Village for Research Ex-change)in the Aomi area of Koto Ward,Tokyo's marine sub-center,which will function as a cen-ter of international exchange,university-industry-government cooperation and informa-tion dissemination for foreign students and re-searchers.
MESSC views Japan's foreign student policy for the21 st century as an intellectual international contribution.We have clearly defined the necessity to develop a range of measures to help for-eign countries to develop their human resources as well as to maintain the peace and security of Japan and strengthen our intellectual influence globally. |
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