Subsidies Eyed for Use of Translation Systems at School

January 7, 2019

Tokyo--Japan's education ministry plans to set up a new subsidy system for prefectures and large cities that offer detailed support to foreign students attending public elementary and junior high schools and their parents by using multilingual translation systems.

The subsidies will be offered to prefectural governments, ordinance-designated major cities and other core cities that use tablet computers with multilingual speech translation functions in teaching Japanese to students from abroad at school and providing school guidance to their parents.

The ministry has set aside 20 million yen for the subsidy system, which is designed to cover one-third of related costs, under the government's fiscal 2019 budget, with 100 language support programs likely to become eligible for the financial aid, informed sources said.

The launch of the new subsidy system comes in line with the government's policy of letting the country accept more foreign workers.

The number of foreign students in Japan needing Japanese language education totaled 43,947 in fiscal 2016, up 70 pct from 26,281 in fiscal 2006. Languages spoken by these students range from English to Chinese and Portuguese.

With the number of students from abroad expected to continue increasing, the ministry finds it necessary to accelerate efforts to help teachers and foreign students communicate smoothly, the sources said.Jiji Press