Japan woos Indian students

In an attempt to woo more Indian students to their universities, a Japan Education Fair was conducted in the city on Saturday by University of Tokyo. The fair was conducted under the aegis of the Japanese government. Unlike the European and American countries, Japan is yet to be a favourite destination for Indian students. The country has only 570 Indian students at present. The major chunk of international students in Japan is from China, Korea and America.

The universities in Japan are now trying to create conducive environment for Indian students. They have started offering programmes in English at undergraduate and graduate levels. The Global 30 project is launched by the Japanese government with the aim of increasing the number of international students in Japan to 300,000 by 2020. Core universities were identified to offer programmes in English and they will receive prioritized financial assistance for five years.

"We really want to have more Indian students on our campuses. This will give us the opportunity to have the best mix of minds and do high-end research. High interest has been generated from Bangalore as well," said Hiroshi Esaki from University of Tokyo. Thirteen universities were present at the fair.
Many educational institutions in Japan have tie-ups with Indian institutions . National Centre for Biological Sciences is one such that has collaborations in stem cell and biomedical research. Engineering and technology are the main attractions in Japanese universities.