Govt wants 5,000 students, lecturers enrolled in 5 yrs in 'Asian ERASMUS'
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The government hopes to involve up to 5,000 students and lecturers from universities in Japan, China, South Korea and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in its Asian version of the ERASMUS program for academic credit transfer and accumulation within five years from 2009, it was learned Sunday.
The program was stipulated in the so-called new Fukuda Doctrine announced by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in May as part of his basic diplomatic policy toward Asia.
Fukuda plans to call for participation of other nations at the East Asia Summit to be held in Thailand in December, according to the sources.
ERASMUS is an acronym for the European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. The European Union program started in 1987 when the organization was still known as the European Community. Students involved in the program can transfer and accumulate credits between participating universities. Currently about 150,000 students and about 20,000 lecturers are participating in the program at about 2,000 institutions of higher education in 30 countries comprising EU member states and other countries including Norway.
Many participants are attracted to the program because students can obtain credits and graduate even if they study in two or more foreign countries. (206 words)
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