JAPANTIMES

The government has announced it will provide funding to 37 leading public and private universities in a bid to boost their global competitiveness.
 
They will receive annual grants for up to 10 years to boost the number of foreign staff, secure more overseas admissions and hopefully raise their international ranking.
 
Last month, an education ministry panel of experts drawn from education, medicine and industry selected successful candidates for the Top Global University Project, out of 104 that applied.
 
Some experts are skeptical that Japanese universities can reach the global premier league within 10 years, citing hurdles such as the difficulty of securing quality foreign researchers.
 
But the ministry appears to recognize this. It has adopted a two-track approach, ranking institutions as belonging to one of two categories.
 
Type-A schools are being urged to raise their game to the level of Oxford and Harvard.
 
Type-B universities are expected to develop their existing international projects and boost their international profile further.
 
The 13 type-A institutions include Hokkaido University, the University of Tokyo, Keio University and Waseda University.
 
There are 24 type-B universities, including Chiba University, Sophia University and Kyoto’s Ritsumeikan University.
 
Here are some questions and answers about the program:
 
What do these schools need to accomplish?
 
The universities must “reform their institutions and focus on internationalization — with the aim of attaining a global standard,” said Hiroshi Ota, a professor at Hitotsubashi University and the director of its Global Education Program.
 
“It’s really tough for universities to transform themselves,” he said, citing the difficulty of overcoming institutional inertia and shedding baggage acquired over decades.
 
What does the Top Global University Project aim to do?
 
The program was introduced at the start of this fiscal year in April.
 
The government decided to try to create a handful of universities with enough prestige and credibility that their graduates will walk into positions of global leadership. It realized this would cost money, so it allocated funds.
 
The program will run from Oct. 1 this year through the end of fiscal year 2023. The progress of the universities will be evaluated regularly.