January 20, 2022

Japan Faces Backlash over Overseas Students Entry Timeline

W With the COVID-19 pandemic around, it's safe to say that the education sector is one such sector that has taken many hits. The pandemic brought in many restrictions, the biggest one – travel. Overseas students studying in Japanese universities are finding it difficult to enter and re-enter Japan as currently the government of Japan is yet to give a clear picture of the entry timeline. The government continues to face backlash as overseas students are stuck in limbo, with no definite timeline to re-enter “as soon as possible”, in sight.

“The current border policies are not helping to keep Omicron out, since most people in Japan can go in and out, but a minority are stuck in limbo,” says Davide Rossi, the head of Japanese agency Go! Go! Nihon. “If it’s okay for citizens to go out and then re-enter Japan, why is it not okay for new entrants such as international students, workforce, and spouses or dependents?”

…overseas students studying in Japanese universities are finding it difficult to enter and re-enter Japan.

From exchange programmes from overseas either getting canceled or delayed, to just plain lack of information, the students are not only losing hopes, but also money, time and energy. According to Ross, there have been a number of cancellation of courses and exchange programmes. Many students, in the past two years of living with the pandemic, have finished their courses, but are now unsure whether they will be able to make it to Japan for their graduation or not.

And it's not all about missing out on classes and courses, another pressing issue is that of the number of graduate jobs available in Japan for the international students. Shiyou Naka, head of Linc, a company that provides job-hunting support for international students and foreign nationals in the country revealed, “If a foreign student plans to go to graduate school in Japan, they have to start job hunting immediately after arriving”. “International students tend to want to join large companies to reassure relatives back home – because they narrow down their applications, time passes without them getting any offers, and they have to go on to higher education or return home,” Yuji Kobayashi, senior researcher at human resource company Persol.

Posted in News and tagged News, Japan, Travel Ban, Higher Education
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