TOKYO – In a bid to broaden educational opportunities, the Japanese government intends to extend eligibility for scholarships to children of foreign workers starting in April.
An initiative in this regard is being launched by the education ministry; the ministry is set to include in the target students who are residing in the country with their parents under a “dependent” visa if they have completed education through elementary, junior high and high school level in Japan and intend to work and stay in the country after graduating from university.
At present, scholarships offered by the Japan Student Services Organization are exclusively available to Japanese citizens and select foreign nationals with specific visa statuses indicating a long-term stay or permanent residency in Japan.
After the fresh change, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology estimates that between 500 to 1,000 students will now qualify for these scholarships, which may be awarded as grants or loans.
The proponents of the proposal from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party cite the importance of attracting foreign labor amid Japan’s shrinking population while the proposal is also backed by advocacy groups, Japan Times reported.
The initiative is also important considering that financial hardships are faced by children of foreign workers but soon the government’s plan would help integrate foreign nationals into its society and workforce.
Through a thriving economy, the government of Japan is grappling with the challenge of birth crisis which has dropped to record-low numbers in 2023. Statistically, the number of births fell 5.1% from a year earlier to 758,631, while the number of marriages nosedived 5.9% to 489,281.
Experts believe that in the near future, the government will have to introduce more immigration-friendly policies so that the labor shortage can be bridged with ease.
