MEXT is Japan’s most prestigious scholarship. MEXT has announced its application for the 2025 Teachers Training Program. The deadline is 9th February 2025 What is a Teachers Training Program by MEXT? It is a 1.5 year fully-funded training program for school and college teachers to learn and get experience from the Japanese education system. The Japanese education system is one of the best in the world. Japan takes a very practical approach to teach students with real life skills and public ethics at a very young age along with formal teaching. What are the Benefits of the Program? You will get a monthly stipend from the Japanese government of ~140K JPY (3 lacs PKR), and a return flight ticket to Japan from your home country and of course a great learning experience from the Japanese education system. What is the Eligibility Criteria? The applicants must be born on or after April 2, 1989 (<35 years). Have a graduate degree from a university (16 years education). Have a 5 years experience of working in primary schools or colleges (not university). Have a interest in learning about Japanese culture and language. Japanese language is not the requirement of the program but having some knowledge is a plus. How to apply for this Program? Step 1. Prepare the following documents: Application Form: Available at the embassy’s website. https://www.pk.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/MEXT_Teachers_Training.html Recommendation Letter from the Principal of the current institute (any format is okay). Statement of Purpose: it is the most important document. (I also recommend attaching your CV) Placement Preference Form: This is a form where you can add a list of intended universities (this can be changed later but filling this form will give you some ideas about your preferences) Step 2. Send the documents by post to the embassy’s website. (The address of the embassy is given at the above link). The Embassy will shortlist the candidates and invite them for an English (& optional Japanese test) and interview. Step 3. If you pass the test and interview, the embassy will ask you for preference of the universities in Japan where you want to go for training (same form at the same time of application but preference can be modified). Then the embassy will finalize a university for you and also take care of the visa process and flight tickets. FAQs: Will you get a Masters Degree after this program? No, this is a non-degree training program where you will study courses in universities and do field visits in Japanese schools and do some research about the education system. But no degree will be provided, the training certificate of the program will be provided. How to write a good Statement of Purpose (SoP)? You should search well about Japan and highlight some aspects of the Japanese education system that you are interested to learn about. Writing a name of some specific educational training institutes in Japan would show the evaluator your interest and knowledge about Japan. Also write about your current teaching experience and try to align with the purpose of this program and your future career plan. Please read the detailed application guidelines on the official website (https://www.pk.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/MEXT_Teachers_Training.html), if you still have some questions please feel free to ask in comments and I will convey them to current MEXT scholars of this program. Best Regards, Haris Gulzar President, MEXT Scholars Association (MSA) in Japan