Junior colleges and vocational schools in Japan that train caregivers are increasingly accepting foreign students amid Japan’s declining birthrate and little interest in the field among Japanese.

This spring, for example, some women’s junior colleges will admit male students for the first time, with foreign students in mind.

LOOKING ABROAD

At Saga Women’s Junior College, second-year students of the welfare and social care course, which aims to train certified care workers, were divided into four groups and engaged in a practical exercise on a phlegm suctioning technique.

Each group included one Japanese student and foreign students from Myanmar and Nepal.

One such student was Pariyar Bishnu Maya, a 30-year-old Nepalese.

She came to Japan when she was 24 after graduating from a pharmacist training school and working at a hospital in her home country.

“The number of elderly people in Nepal is also increasing,” she said. “I want to gain experience in Japan.”

Of the 40 students in the course, 18 second-year students and 27 first-year students are from abroad.

The school had been receiving inquiries from Myanmar students studying at Japanese language schools in their home country as well as those who are attending vocational schools in Japan about whether male students could enroll.

Last year, the junior college decided to accept male students and removed the word “women” from the admission guidelines for the new academic year.

Two male students from Myanmar are expected to study at the school.

The course first accepted foreign students in 2016 and their numbers have continued to grow.

While more than 20 Japanese students were enrolled in around 2016, there are currently only eight Japanese students in each of the first and second years.

“The perception that caregiving work is tough and poorly paid has taken root, leading high school students to be discouraged from enrolling,” said Yukari Maeyama, head of the course at the junior college.

If a school’s enrollment rate does not reach 80 percent of its quota for three academic years in a row, it will be excluded from the government’s financial aid programs for mainly low-income students starting from the 2024 academic year.

Therefore, securing students is an urgent issue for many schools.

‘CAREGIVER’ ADDED TO RESIDENT STATUS

The number of foreign students at universities, junior colleges and vocational schools that train caregiving workers has expanded as Japan’s population of 18-year-olds continues to fall due to the low birthrate.

According to the Japan Association of Training Institutions for Certified Care Workers, the number of departments and courses at these schools in the current academic year ending in March has fallen by about 80 from that of four years ago.

However, the number of foreign students surged from 257 nationwide in the 2016 academic year to 2,395 in the 2020 academic year.

In the 2023 academic year, that number was 1,802, accounting for about 30 percent of all enrolled students in such courses.

The Sunshine College of Social and Child Welfare in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district began accepting more foreign students about five years ago.

Currently, of the roughly 30 students enrolled, about 20 are foreign students.

Osaka Christian College, which was previously a women’s junior college with only a preschool education department, launched a Japanese language department last fall.

The school will also set up a nursing care and welfare department this spring with plans to accept both male and female students, with foreign students in mind.

The government’s adding caregiver to the list of residency status holders in 2017 helped attract more foreigners to work here.

The status allows foreign students who obtain qualification to become a certified care worker to then stay and work in Japan by switching their residency status from “student” to “caregiver” after graduation.

However, the national exam pass rate for foreign students is low.

The pass rate, including those who had previously graduated, was 95 percent for Japanese nationals but 46 percent for foreign students, according to welfare ministry data.

Some schools saw only one or two of more than 30 foreign students pass the exam.

“With the government trying to increase the number of foreign people in the workforce, it’s natural for schools facing financial difficulties to take on educating foreign students,” said Akiko Morozumi, a professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School, who specializes in university management.

She emphasized the need for adequate support considering cultural differences.

“Schools must not treat the care of foreign students lightly and should be prepared to responsibly send students out into society,” Morozumi said.

(This article was written by Yuichi Kojin and Maho Fukui.)