Education panel touts more global approach

By Masaaki Kameda. A government education panel submitted a report Tuesday to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urging the nation’s universities to be outward-looking in order to foster global talent among Japanese. Abe in return vowed to work to give Japanese universities the competitive edge they need by reflecting those suggestions in his administration’s growth strategies, education minister Hakubun Shimomura said. The panel’s proposals recommended that the nation’s colleges attract more foreign teachers and students and boost collaboration with their overseas counterparts to offer joint degrees. It also called for the nation’s universities to be more internationally competitive by inviting leading foreign institutions to set up undergraduate and graduate programs in Japan. The panel also urged the government to give extra support to colleges, tentatively dubbed “super global universities,” that actively hire non-Japanese teachers, enhance partnerships with institutions overseas and expand degrees that can be obtained via classes in English. Read more...