Japan, the world's third largest economy, struggles with great
challenges in higher education. One issue, the aging population,
has already led to a decline in graduate quality among many low and
mid-tier universities. At the same time, the country features a
mainly inward looking population highlighted by low student
mobility rates.
Now, a big Japanese newspaper reported that the government will invest
around ¥6 billion (€54 million) in 5 year grants supporting
students going abroad. In the recent years, the number of Japanese
students spending their studies abroad has declined from 82,000 in
2004 to 59,000 in 2009, a decrease of 28%.
Japan's mobility slumps, global mobility
rises
Experts fear that "unless this trend is reversed, Japan's
international competitiveness and awareness of other countries and
cultures will continue to suffer." This phenomenon stands in stark
contrast to what is going on in Japan's neighboring countries like
China and South Korea. There, outward and inward student numbers
are on the rise. On a global scale, researchers expect foreign
student enrolment to grow to over 8 million by 2025, up from 2.1
million in 2002.
