I give online lessons to students at a Japanese language school in Mandalay, Myanmar, at any chance. Three years ago, the day of the coup was during classes. There were several interruptions due to the lack of internet. Things have calmed down, but the number of students seems to have decreased (6 in the 4th grade class and 12 in the 5th grade class as of April 2024).
I have some doubts about the following.
Most students are around the age of graduating from high school, but some have been studying for quite a long time. Some students come to school from far away. Although the school has no dormitory, they take care of housing. However, due to a lack of funds, it seems to be run by volunteers under Mr. Aung. More than that, although the number of students who work, is not publicized, there are many of them. We are affiliated with a Japanese language school in Yangon too. There is also a graduate of this school who studied in Japan as an international student and started an IT company.
In Japan, the number of industries expecting foreign workers is increasing due to labor shortages. The technical intern training program is revised almost every year. There are many problems, so it has to be revised. The most important thing for the workers is money (wage), and the reality is exploitation rather than training for technology transfer. There are also restrictions on the treatment of accompanying spouses, such as working for more than five years ( or depending on the residence status). Also, from communication issues in Japanese to various insurance enrollment, they are incorporated into Japan’s welfare and social systems.
The number of skilled workers from Myanmar will increase from now on. Surprisingly, I feel that their English level is not high. The people are strong against the cold and are simple and gentle because it is a Theravada Buddhist country, but maintaining temples is also difficult. Young people know about the Imphal Operation in World War II, which is an old connection with Japan, but they are not particularly interested in it. (This is Suchitoo’s subjective impression.)
*What is the Foreign Technical Intern Training Program? [The Foreign Technical Intern Training Program was established in 1993 to contribute to “human development” that will lead the economic development of developing regions, etc. by transferring skills, techniques, and knowledge cultivated in our country to those regions. In November 2017, the Act on Proper Practice of Technical Intern Training for Foreign Nationals and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees (Technical Intern Training Act) came into force, and a new technical intern training system was launched. 】(From JITCO)■Outline of the new system based on the Technical Intern Training Act.
@Myanmar Japanese School “Hotaru” is looking for volunteer Japanese language teachers (the school will cover the costs of accommodations).
@To date, 12 Myanmar-related articles are on this site.