The Business of Overseas Study: Behind the Scenes at Language Schools
Experience Gained at Part-time Jobs Recognized as Class Credits (#4 of 5 part series)
Some vocational schools in Fukuoka Prefecture have started offering students class credits for the experienced gained at their part-time jobs. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has been making efforts to support this system since 2004. The aim was for schools to recognize the practical skills which can be gained through entering the world of employment by awarding credits to students engaged in specialized professions, such as vehicle maintenance and IT-based work. But there has been criticism that some part-time jobs are not necessarily linked to a student’s future career, and that certain schools are abusing the system by letting students work at factories where there is no opportunity to speak Japanese. The concern is whether or not these types of jobs can really be described as “work experience.”
Most international students go to a Japanese language school for two years after first arriving in the country. After that, those who do not meet the academic or linguistic requirements to go to university, or do not have funds for tuition, will sometimes move to a vocational school so that they can extend their visa. Even after completing a one or two-year vocational course, there are some students who simply switch to a different department in the same institution or just move to another vocational school. The immigration office has not set a limit on the amount of times that a student can enter a new school.
The number of Japanese students has decreased due to the declining birth-rate and some vocational schools have been recruiting international students to cover shortages in student intake. However, schools have been admonished for not offering enough satisfactory classes and essentially exploiting their students. Even though many international students dream of going to a university or getting a job in Japan, they become burdened with the responsibility of working in part-time jobs as student migrant workers. The government has tolerated this situation in pursuit of reaching its target of accepting 300,000 international students in Japan.
Original article from Nishinippon Shimbun (2/25/2017).
New Era of Immigration in Kyushu
The number of workers from abroad, including international students and technical interns in Japan, exceeded one million for the first time last year. This group of people form an indispensable component of the workforce, irrespective of the government’s position on immigration. Read more installments from this series here.
