Japan prefecture to allow employees to study abroad

NARA announced on March 20 that it will establish a system in fiscal 2023 to allow its employees to study at graduate schools overseas.

The personnel division of the prefectural government said that it is rare for a prefectural government to introduce a system for local public servants, despite Japanese ministries and agencies having systems in place to allow national public servants to study abroad.

The personnel division said that employees who are selected through an open application process will be able to choose an English-speaking country and graduate school of their choice to study at. The program will be offered to one employee a year for a period of two years. A worker in her 30 s has already been selected as a candidate and is scheduled to enroll in graduate school in the fall of 2023.

The prefectural government will pay travel expenses and tuition, and will also provide a salary during the program, but living expenses will be borne by the employee.

The personnel division said studying abroad will broaden our staff's perspectives and personal connections. We want to nurture human resources who have a variety of ideas and can demonstrate their abilities in this prefecture. The prefectural government will begin sending personnel to private companies and conducting personnel exchanges in fiscal 2023. One employee will be loaned to Mitsubishi Estate Co. and Mizuho Bank Ltd. in the first year of the program. The prefecture will accept one person each from Softbank Corp., the Development Bank of Japan Inc. and MUFJ Bank Ltd. as part of the program.