Tag Archives: Japan

Foreign Student-Workers in Japan

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Hello!

I follow the Japan Times pretty regularly, and an article came up a couple days ago discussing the number of foreign students who are working in Japan.

The article states that the Ministry of Education’s plan is to reach 300,000 foreign students by 2020, a plan which is well on its way. But it also discusses the policy behind work visas (which do no exist in Japan), and that foreigners with student visas are allowed to work 28 hours a week. Most foreign students are coming from China and Korea, with an increasing number from SE Asia, and they feel compelled to work. This may prevent them from reaching their educational goals. The students in the article are going through language school in preparation for IT or engineering programs. It seems language schools are feeders for unofficial, cheap foreign labor.

What the article doesn’t explain is what proportion of foreign students are genuinely working towards their education goals, and what proportion might be exploiting the system to work in Japan? How many foreign students make it through their language programs and into their higher education program of choice? How many do not make it and have to return home? I imagine, and the article states, that there is incentive to keep these foreign students in Japan to work the low-level jobs, but what are the long term implications if this “under the table” arrangement, especially if these students’ long-term educational goals are never realized?

I’m looking at you Hiro and Sho! And anyone else, of course 🙂

The link to the article is below.

The cost of convenience in Japan: when foreign students work instead of study

 

Comparative Data Show that Chinese Progress in Higher Education yet to Turn Tide

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In the past few weeks, we talked about higher education in Japan, South Korea, China, and India. Recently, THE DataPoints (Times Higher Education) provides a set of useful and interesting comparative data between China and three major Asian countries respectively: India, South Korea, and Japan.

Here is the news published on THE:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/chinas-universities-significant-progress-more-do

The article reveals where Chinese universities are starting to outpace their rivals, as well as illustrating where China is still relatively lagging behind.

China VS India

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The China-India chart shows that China has surpassed India on most measures. It can be attributed to several reasons:

  • The higher HE investment of the Chinese government
  • Successful and dynamic policies attracting its talents back home and international students studying in China
  • The development of research collaborations between industry and academia

However, one metric proves a blog posted two weeks ago that India has a higher number of doctorates awarded than China.

China VS South Korea

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The article gives a high rating to South Korea’s HE system. THE data scientist said that “South Korea was the shining example to any education ministry about how to improve their university sector.” There are two key aspects that China needs to catch up:

  • The diversity of money sources – the government, industry, and student fees
  • International collaboration – a key way to improve citation impact

However, although there is a gap between the two countries now, the article is optimistic about the future development of China’s higher education because of the outpouring of support from the Chinese government.

China VS Japan

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I remember that Sho talked about the evolution of the balance between private and public funding in Japan’s HE. The China-Japan chart shows that Japan’s universities are behind both China and South Korea on the amount of income that universities are attracting from industry.

It is very interesting that Japan has a much higher staff-to-student ratio than China. However, the article claims that it is because of the collapse of the youth population in the country and it brings serious challenges for Japan to keep its leading role in Asia and globally.

 

Questions: Do you think that the data and metrics THE Data picked up reflect the real situation in your country? Why? Does this article present the future layout of Asian HE?