(EXCLUSIVE) IITs, IIITs and IIMs may soon start Japanese language courses for science & tech students

New Delhi. The Japanese government is negotiating with India to introduce Japanese language courses in India’s premium technology and management institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs).

To begin with, the focus will be to introduce Japanese language courses for the science stream students with a prime focus on information technology and related fields.

To push its initiative, The Japan Foundation, New Delhi – a Japanese government institution in India, is also preparing a large force of Japanese language teachers to teach Japanese language in IITs, IIITs and IIMs as there exists huge dearth of Japanese language teachers in India.

“The Japanese government through its embassy in India is in contact with the senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and University Grants Commission (UGC) to finalise the ongoing negotiations. The Japanese government wants UGC to introduce Japanese language courses in all 23 premium institutions like IITs, IIITs and IIMs,” Hiroaki Konishi, Japanese Language Advisor to Japan Foundation, New Delhi told Asian Community News (ACN) Networkrecently.

Attracted by the Indian government’s focus on science and technology especially in the field of information technology (IT) and talent story emerging out of IITs and IIMs, a large number of Japanese companies are eyeing talent churned out of by these premiums institutions.

However, these companies prefer foreign executives and technocrats be acquainted with the Japanese language and culture making it easier for them to adapt to their work culture and also optimize the output.

The Japanese government would also be aiming at introducing Japanese language courses for the science and technology students in privately run institutions and universities with focus on information technology.

According to foreign languages experts it’s a welcome step by the Japanese government as it would work in the benefit of India also.

“As Indian students learn Japanese language, they would be more in demand by the Japanese multinational companies. With additional Japanse language and culture knowledge, they can demand better pay packages from their employers and rank high in employability index as compared to others,” said Prof Ashok Tiku, Head, Amity School of Languages at Amity University, Haryana.