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Yomiuri Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Konica Minolta to Provide Schools with AI-Powered Real-Time Translation Service Using Tablets
Konica Minolta, Inc. will launch 'KOTOBAL,' a multilingual interpreting service using tablets and other devices, for use in schools. As the number of foreigners living in Japan has increased, the number of children with foreign backgrounds enrolled in childcare centers and schools has been rising sharply, and the service is designed to support communication between teachers and other children. Three municipalities have already introduced the service on a pilot basis since April, and the company aims to have 30 municipalities adopt it by the next fiscal year. KOTOBAL is an AI-assisted, real-time automatic translation service, and is available in 23 languages, including English, Chinese and Vietnamese. The service enables students to check in their native language what the teacher is saying in Japanese during class via a tablet or other device. The service is also intended to be used for conversations between foreign and Japanese students during break times. A service in which remote interpreters respond to users' questions will also be available in approximately 20 different languages. A system will be set up to provide counseling on higher education and bullying. Also, parents and guardians of the students will be able to participate in meetings with teachers with no appointment necessary. According to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, the number of foreign students requiring Japanese-language instruction in public schools was 57,718 in 2023, about double compared to nine years earlier. A survey showed that about 30% of them do not understand classes held in the Japanese language, which has become an issue in the field of education.
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan to Conduct Probe into Career Guidance for Foreign Students; High Schools Nationwide to be Surveyed on Support Systems
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry building in Tokyo The government will this fiscal year launch a survey on career support for foreign students in high schools. The number of high school students in need of Japanese language instruction has doubled in the past 10 years. At the same time, the percentage of those who chose to work part time or be unemployed after graduation is high, posing a challenge for career support while in high school. According to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, 5,573 high school students needed Japanese language instruction in fiscal 2023, approximately 2.3 times the number of 2,410 in fiscal 2012, and the number is expected to increase further in the future. At the same time, 38.6% (3.1% of all students) of those who found jobs after graduation were in non-regular employment, and 11.8% (6.5% of all students) were unemployed, having neither pursued higher education nor found employment. The survey results indicate that many foreign students are having difficulty in developing their careers. Some high schools offer visits from alumni students, take part in internship schemes and offer support from specialist staff. However, the government has been unable to ascertain how widespread these efforts have been. Therefore, the survey will seek to determine the systems in place across at high schools across the country for foreign students to support progression into employment and higher education. Systems that have advanced will be introduced on a trial basis at model schools and a report will be produced and shared among educational institutions nationwide with the aim of strengthening support systems.
Yomiuri Shimbun
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Tohoku University to Hire 500 World-class Researchers, Hoping to Capitalize on U.S. Brain Drain Set Off by Trump
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Tohoku University Tohoku University will hire about 500 world-class researchers by fiscal 2029, it was learned on Thursday. Tohoku University is the only university recognized by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry as a University for International Research Excellence, or a university that aims to achieve the world's highest level of research abilities. The university will use ¥30 billion in government subsidies to hire the researchers. Over the next 25 years, the university hopes to increase its ratio of foreign researchers from 12% to 30%. This fiscal year, it plans to use ¥2.2 billion of the ¥15.4 billion in grants it has received as a university of excellence to hire about 100 people. Currently, it is negotiating with 11 overseas researchers whose annual salaries exceed ¥20 million. The Trump administration's cuts to science and technology budgets have presented a chance to snag researchers who are struggling to continue their research in the United States. And while there is a large gap in salaries between Japan and the United States, the university will pay according to performance and will not set salary caps. 'We hope to attract excellent researchers from all over the world to enhance our research capabilities,' said a university source.
The Star
31-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Indonesian govt scrambles to help Indonesian students in the United States amid visa suspension policy
JAKARTA: The Higher Education, Science and Technology Ministry is looking for options to accommodate Indonesian students currently staying in the United States or planning to depart for their studies amid Washington's move to suspend visa processing for international students globally. Several options considered by the ministry to avoid the students being stranded and hindered from continuing their studies were changing their scholarships, looking for possibilities to move the student's destination to other countries and continuing their studies at an Indonesian institution. 'We are anticipating [this situation] by also coordinating with the Foreign Ministry and scholarship providers, including the Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP),' said Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Brian Yuliarto in Bandung on Thursday (May 29). 'We are watching, waiting and anticipating so that should the policy come into effect, we won't be caught off guard,' he continued. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered on Tuesday for embassies and consulates to pause scheduling appointments for student visas, pending new guidelines on checking applicants' social media postings, as reported by AFP. The US State Department said on Thursday the suspension would be brief, with its spokesperson Tammy Bruce encouraging prospective students to seek visa appointments. 'I would not be recommending that if this was going to be weeks or months,' Bruce said, as quoted by AFP. 'I can tell you that it's something that would happen perhaps sooner than later.' Following the announcement of Rubio's decision on Tuesday, Minister Brian said in a statement issued on Wednesday that his ministry would coordinate with various parties, universities abroad and in the country to explore possibilities of current and prospective Indonesian students in the US to move to their respective institutions. The ministry also suggested Indonesian students in the US to not leave the country to avoid being denied reentry. Brian also added that the higher education ministry would list Indonesian students for their study field, education level and visa status. Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) rector Tatacipta Dirgantara separately conveyed the university's readiness to accept Indonesian students from the US should the government decide to push them to continue their education from Indonesia. 'We have a clear procedure for transfer students should the situation force us to do so,' Tatacipta said. He added that ITB had done similar things after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC on Sept. 11, 2001, when the university received Indonesian doctoral students and helped them continue their study in the country. Harvard saga Rubio's decision on student visa suspension was announced one week after the US Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard University's certification to participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The decision effectively barred the university from accepting foreign students, who account for more than a quarter of its student body. The revocation was reportedly triggered by Harvard's refusal to comply with a federal request to provide records of visa-holding students allegedly involved in 'illegal and violent activities'. Minister Brian said the higher education ministry would ensure that affected students receive the necessary assistance should the situation deteriorate. The Foreign Ministry said it was watching the policy's development closely, while the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC established communication with Indonesian students at Harvard. Harvard filed a lawsuit against the federal government's decision, with US district judge Allison Burroughs ordering the halt of the policy. During an injunction hearing for Harvard's lawsuit in Boston on Thursday, Judge Burroughs said she would later issue a preliminary injunction that gives 'some protection to international students' as the university and Trump's administration prepare to make their cases, AFP reported. Former foreign minister and Prasetiya Mulya University rector Hassan Wirajuda welcomed Judge Burrough's injunction in Harvard's case. He added that Prasetiya Mulya would be ready to receive Indonesian students studying in the US should the government decide to repatriate them. In a post uploaded on Thursday, former deputy foreign minister and cofounder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) Dino Patti Djalal urged Foreign Minister Sugiono to communicate with Rubio to convey Indonesia's concerns regarding the US administration's recent policies that potentially affect international students. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC previously said they had spoken with the US government and shared its 'deep concern over the negative effect' the policy has on Indonesian and other foreign students. The embassy also called for a solution that could ensure Indonesian students at Harvard and other US universities to continue their studies. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
