A New player has signalled its intention to enter the overseas education market. The Study in Japan Education Fair at Delhi Universitys Daulat Ram College on Monday saw the countrys leading universities trying to dispel students fear of the one factor that has kept Indian students away: language. On offer was the Global 30 programme,a 2009 initiative of the Japanese Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology. Accordingly,13 leading universities were selected as core universities,with the aim of attracting 3,00,000 international students by 2020. At the heart of the Global 30 programme is the dramatic increase in the number of courses taught in English. Prior knowledge of Japanese,therefore,will not be a requirement anymore, said Matthew Wortley,a member of the Ritsumeikan University team. Aided by government funds ranging from 200 million to 400 million Yen each,Japanese universities selected under the G-30 programme will introduce 124 graduate and 33 undergraduate courses in the next five years. University of Tokyo,Japans premier university,has lined up nine courses for 2010. It will open its admission windows for courses beginning April and October. The thrust on India comes from the realisation that only about 500 students from the country are in Japan,whereas there are 70,000 students from China, said Ashok Jain,President,Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI),the organisers of the education fair. The fair,in its third year,will be extended to Chennai and Hyderabad besides Delhi and Pune,the venues for the first two editions. Students at the fair seemed to have a better idea why the country was trying to attract young talent. Japan,with its rapidly aging population,will soon have an urgent need for youngsters. I see it as an opportunity to study and also introduce myself to a totally new culture, said Nitish Gupta,who was looking for MBA courses in Japan. Also on offer are 65 scholarships by the Japanese Government exclusively for Indian students and numerous others by private foundations. Members of university teams hoped India would relax its immigration laws soon. There have been talks of taking a re-look at the laws,but that will be done gradually. With population threatening to decline,it would not be a bad idea to allow students to settle down in Japan, said an official from one of the participating universities.
