Higher education opportunities in Japan for Lankan students

by Naalir Jamaldeen

The Japan Communication International School (JCIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Higher Education Ministry last week.

The MOU will provide an opportunity to Sri Lankan students to carry out their higher studies at the JCIS in Japan, Chief Director of International Research Foundation for Lifelong Learning, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology - Japan Tomohiro Anraku said.

Addressing the media in Colombo, Anraku said 200 Sri Lankan students will receive admission to the JCIS every year. Fifty students will be admitted once every three months. The intake of Lankan students will take place next January. All procedures in connection with the admission of local students will be carried out through the Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka.

Students who have passed the GCE (A/L) are eligible to apply for the JCIS. Applicants should be fluent in Japanese and be between 18 and 30 years.

The Japanese education system requires every student to have a national health insurance policy.

Seventy percent of the premium should be paid by the student and the rest by the institute until the completion of studies.

The JCIS, however, will pay the full insurance premium of foreign students. Accommodation and medical facilities for foreign students will also be provided free by the JCIS, he said.

Secretary General of the Japan-Sri Lanka Parliamentarians' Friendship League, the Domestic Party of Japan, Member of the House of Councilors Odachi Motoyuki said 140,000 foreign students received admission to various higher education institutes in Japan last year.

Japanese education authorities plan to increase the number of foreign students to 300,000 by 2020.

Four hundred foreign students currently follow various courses at the JCIS. Foreign students would also be able to do part time jobs.

He said the education exchange program will further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. Studies related to the economic, social, engineering and medical streams are available at the JCIS.