NMC inks exchange program with Japan school

Northern Marianas College entered into a partnership with a Japanese high school yesterday, in an effort to further the Global Education Initiatives program which aims to increase NMC’s foreign student population.

NMC signed a “sister-school agreement” with Hiroshima’s Koryo High School to promote education, training, and other exchange programs between both institutions.

College president Tony Deleon Guerrero said as part of the partnership, some KHS students are expected to arrive this summer to attend two weeks of intensive English language classes, which will be developed by the NMC Community Development Institute.

He said NMC is also looking at participating in faculty and student exchange programs with KHS.

“We feel that through this sister-school agreement, we will be able to mutually generate benefits for our students, faculty, and staff. We strongly believe that we can enhance the learning process through the diversification of our student population and establishment of intercultural relationships,” Deleon Guerrero said during the signing ceremony.

In an interview, KHS principal Kojiro Fukuhara said he hoped to expose KHS students to foreign cultures through the school’s partnership with NMC.

“It is my dream for our students to become more internationally oriented. Right now, most of them feel afraid to be around foreigners. They’re not accustomed to talking to people from other cultures. But Japan is becoming more and more Westernized, and I want them to be prepared for change,” he said.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Fukuhara said he would like for his students to also consider pursuing U.S. education after they graduate.

Also present at the signing ceremony were NMC dean of academic affairs Jack Sablan, NMC dean of student development Kurt Barnes, NMC finance director Raaj Kurapati, NMC marketing and recruitment representative Taro Kawasaki, KHS chairman Yoshito Ninomiya, KHS English teacher Junichi Takemoto, and two KHS students.

Located in the rural part of Hiroshima City, Koryo High School has been in existence for 110 years now. The school currently has a population of 1,200 students—170 of them female—and 80 teachers and staff members.

About 90 percent of KHS graduates pursue postsecondary education at universities and vocational schools, while the rest of them enter employment.