The number of foreign students enrolling in nursing care schools has nearly doubled this academic year amid a labor shortage in the heath care sector, according to the Japan Association of Training Institutions for Certified Care Workers.
The rise in the number of foreign students started in 2015, and gained momentum following a legal amendment last September making it easier for certified caregivers to obtain residential status, the association said Monday.
The latest figure means one in six nursing care students in Japan is foreign, as the number of Japanese students fell by half over the last five years to 5,714 as of April, according to a survey conducted by the association on 365 institutions with nursing care programs, including vocational schools, junior colleges and universities.