The high percentage of Vietnamese students rejected by Japanese agencies to grant visas to study at Japanese schools has raised pessimism among Vietnamese students who dream of going to Japan. 

In spite of not having finished high school in Vietnam, many Vietnamese students want to study in Japan just because Japanese language schools and Vietnamese firms of oversea studying consultant promise that they will have good job opportunities in Japan. This is the reason why the Japanese immigration management agency decided to tighten control the number of oversea students. The headmaster of a Japanese language school reportedly fainted in front of the agency’s office because 100 percent of students enrolling in the school were refused.

Meanwhile, other language schools in Japan have up to 70 - 80 percent of students rejected.

Some Vietnamese high school students are really worried about what they call the ‘Japanese new policy’ on failing students who want to go to Japan. A student in Hanoi said the new policy is contrary to the plan of the Japanese government about attracting foreign workers to this country. Moreover, Vietnam’s firms of overseas studying consultant have set up new higher consultancy fees.

However, the representatives of several prestigious language schools in Tokyo, to whom reporters contacted, have questioned the figures. 

Tanaka Takahashi, the representative of a language school near Shinjuku station in the central area of Tokyo, said the number of students successfully enrolling in his school this April is even higher than the years before. He said that he cannot see any signs from his school and other schools in Tokyo showing that Japanese are refusing Vietnamese students.

Michiko Toyumi from MD language school near Ikebukuro station also said her school has not heard information that the Japanese immigration agency is cutting the number of Vietnamese students. However, she said it is true that the Japanese government is tightening control over language schools.

Running language schools in the last three years is expected to bring super profits in the last three years, which explains a sharp increase in the number of language schools established. 

The high percentage of rejected Vietnamese students only occurs at newly set up schools which set lax requirements on students, Michiko Toyumi added.