Japan's education ministry said Friday it will allocate around 300 billion yen ($2.14 billion) to promote the study of science and engineering at 111 universities and vocational high schools that are establishing or expanding related departments.
The funding by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for information technology, digitization, decarbonization and other fields is part of government efforts to support the development of talent in areas expected to see strong global competition.
According to a ministry survey, around 35 percent of students in Japan graduate with science degrees, compared with 38 percent in the United States and 45 percent in Britain. The funding is part of the government's efforts to raise the proportion to 50 percent.
The ministry said it will award sums of up to 2 billion yen to 67 public and private universities that are making organizational changes in related disciplines.
Of the 67, about 30 percent are primarily arts institutions that will establish science or technology departments for the first time.
Separately, 51 national, public and private universities as well as vocational high schools that are expanding their curriculums and increasing student quotas for primarily IT-related disciplines will receive sums of up to 1 billion yen.
Of the 51, seven schools expected to deliver particularly strong results have been placed in a high-level bracket granting each institution an additional 1 billion yen.
Seven universities among the 111 academic institutions will be awarded money for both organizational changes, and expanding student quotas and curriculums.
A ministry official said that "in order to increase the number of science and engineering personnel, we intend to support the efforts of many universities."
Among other measures to raise the proportion of science students, the government is planning to ease rules, including on staff numbers, for the establishment of science and engineering departments.
Starting in fiscal 2024, it also intends to expand eligibility for scholarship grants from low-income students to middle-income science students.
