Japanese Faculty, Mongolian Students Worked Hard to Open Kosen Colleges of Technology in Mongolia

Yomiuri Shimbun

5 hours ago

A Japanese former professor who helped establish kosen institutes of technology in Mongolia is looking forward to the Emperor's visit to Mongolia.
The Emperor will make a visit to one of the colleges, Mongol Kosen College of Technology, in Ulaanbaatar on Wednesday.
Toru Inoue, who will meet the Emperor at the college, is a former professor at Tokyo Metropolitan College of Industrial Technology and has assisted since the preparatory stages with the opening of the schools, which adopt Japan's kosen vocational higher education system.
'I want [the Emperor] to meet the tenacious and tough students,' Inoue, 74, said.
Mongolia, rich in mineral resources such as coal and copper, became a democracy in the early 1990s but since then has struggled with underdeveloped industries like manufacturing, a shortage of skilled workers and inadequate training systems.
Mongolian graduates who had studied at Japanese technical colleges launched an initiative to open a technical college in the country. They consulted former kosen faculty members, who formed a supporting society in October 2009. Inoue, who was still a faculty member at a kosen at the time, offered behind the scenes support.
The society accepted a delegation from Mongolia, conducted on-site surveys and convinced local Mongolian educators — which Inoue said a particularly difficult task — of the need to nurture technical personnel.
In Mongolia, at the time, even when roads and apartment buildings were damaged, they could not be rebuilt. The society talked about these conditions with local educators. It also advised on the curriculum and donated desks, chairs, laboratory benches and measuring equipment.'It was a series of challenges,' Inoue said.
Five years after the society was founded, three schools, including Mongol Kosen College of Technology, opened in September 2014. The society dispatched teachers from Japan in fields such as construction, machinery and computer engineering. It also sent Japanese language teachers with the aim of helping students find employment at Japanese companies and has supported job training programs, as well.
The Emperor said at a press conference on July 2, 'I understand that this is the first Japan-originated kosen to be established outside of Japan,' and added that he was looking forward to interacting with the students there.
Inoue said, 'Some called us foolhardy, but ten years have passed since the school opened, and now the Emperor is visiting. I'm deeply moved.'
Forty percent of graduates from the three Mongolian technical colleges have gone on to work for Japanese companies or universities. Inoue hopes for them to develop industries after returning to their homeland and serve as a bridge between Japan and Mongolia.