Over 100 foreign students expelled from Osaka school

OSAKA, Japan — Over 100 Vietnamese and other foreign students who entered a tourism-related vocational school in Osaka in April were not allowed to renew their residency status and subsequently expelled from the school this summer, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

Noting that since last year the school has admitted far more foreign students than its admissions quota, the Osaka prefectural government has urged the school to correct the situation, but it did not comply with the request.

The Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau apparently decided the school was deliberately engaged in misconduct.

More than 90 percent of the students at the school — the Japan-China College of Culture and Arts in Osaka’s Tennoji Ward — are foreign nationals. The prefectural government instructed it to curb its acceptance of international students, judging that the school was sloppily managed merely to collect more tuition fees.

Dozens of the expelled students reportedly had no choice but to return to their home countries, although some were accepted by other vocational schools and their residency status was therefore recognized.
Some Vietnamese students are expected to file a lawsuit against the school, demanding compensation and consolation payments.

Founded in 2015, the school offers two-year programs including a tour guide-interpreter course conducted in Chinese, with an annual tuition of about ¥800,000 (P380,000).

Under the School Education Law, vocational schools admitting mainly foreigners are not licensed. The school was licensed after submitting an application stating that it would admit mainly Japanese nationals who had graduated from high school while also accepting some foreign students, according to the prefectural government.

In fact, the school sought mostly Vietnamese and Chinese students. About 560 students were enrolled in 2017, exceeding the admissions quota of 418 set by the prefectural government based on the size of the school and other factors.