Tokyo aid helps Malaysia solve Japanese-language teacher shortage

KUALA LUMPUR – Japan has granted a Malaysian school $68,985 in financial aid for teacher training to ease a shortage of Japanese-language instructors in the nation. The funding via the Embassy of Japan in Malaysia will be used to upgrade laboratories and training rooms as well as to purchase new computers and books at the International Languages Teacher Training Institute in Kuala Lumpur, according to Hiroyuki Orikasa, deputy chief of mission at the embassy. "Many high schools and universities in Malaysia provide Japanese-language classes, but they are facing a shortage of instructors," he said last week at a handover ceremony for the grant. In the predominantly Muslim country where Malay, Chinese and English are spoken, the number of Japanese-language learners totaled 33,234 in 2015, up from 22,858 in 2009, according to an embassy survey. "We see no sign of slowing down," Orikasa said.