International Student Migrant Workers
Student Dropout Returning Home (#5 of 7 part series)
A case has been reported of a student from Nepal who withdrew from a language school in Fukuoka and travelled back to their home country in October 2016. These developments came after complaints of high noise levels and alcohol consumption were made against the student in question, despite being known to have a high attendance rate and a serious attitude towards studying. It has been seen as a somewhat harsh response to a relatively small offence, but it follows a series of other incidents that occurred at the language school in recent times, such as sexual assault and damage to property. Voices connected to the story suggested that the individual might have been used as a scapegoat in order to avoid police and immigration office monitoring.
Japanese language and vocational schools which are poorly managed can come under stricter visa checks by immigration authorities, which leads to a reduction in the number of visas issued to their students. This leads to a reduction in the student body and the school taking a financial hit. But at the same time, it can become hard for schools to provide detailed guidance to each student if the student intake gets too high.
The number of students enrolled at the Japanese language and vocational school discussed here increased from about 1,140 in 2014 to around 1,620 in 2016. Officials suggest that the school had difficulties in dealing with this increase. The number of Japanese language educational institutions in Kyushu have almost doubled from 33 in 2007 to 64 schools in 2016. At the same time, there has also been a rise in the number of “student migrant workers” who are in employment while also enrolled at a school. Some of these individuals are said to only attend school to keep up attendance so that they can keep their student visas.
Original article from Nishinippon Shimbun (12/19/2016).
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.
