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Applications open for Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme 2019

Published:Friday | September 7, 2018 | 12:00 AM
Contributed
Members of the 32nd batch of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme pose for a photograph at a farewell reception organised for them at the residence of Ambassador of Japan to Jamaica on Thursday, July 12, 2018. With them are (front row, sitting, from left): Marsha Dennie, vice-president Jamaica JET Alumni Association; Marcia Gillbert-Roberts, permanent secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Senator Ruel Reid, minister of education, youth and information.; Hiromasa Yamazaki, ambassador of Japan to Jamaica; and Laurie Peters, high commissioner of Canada to Jamaica. A total of 35 JET participants are leaving for Japan this year of which five left in April. The rest departed at the end of July.

Applications for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme are now open. The call for applications opened on September 3, 2018, and closes on November 2, 2018, at 4 p.m., according to a communique sent out by the Embassy of Japan in Jamaica.

It is an excellent opportunity for Jamaicans to work as assistant language teachers (ALTs) in Japan, the communique said.

"The JET Programme is an excellent opportunity for Jamaicans to experience another culture and to strengthen the diplomatic ties that exist between the two nations," it said.

This year, Jamaica commemorates 18 years of excellence on the JET Programme, having sent over 300 participants since the year 2000 to work as assistant language teachers in local authorities as well as in public and private elementary, junior, and senior high schools throughout Japan.

Through the JET programme, people from participating countries are invited to Japan and are appointed to work as ALTs, CIRs (coordinators for international relations), or SEAs (sports exchange advisers) by local governments in Japan for one year (up to five years). Note that Jamaicans can only apply for the ALT position at this moment.

The Japan Exchange and Teaching programme is an international exchange programme that started in 1987. The programme aims to promote internationalisation in Japan's local communities by improving foreign language education and developing international exchange at the community level by fostering ties between Japanese youth and foreign youth. The objectives are being achieved as JET programme participants serve in local authorities as well as in public and private elementary, and junior and senior high schools in Japan.

Applicants may download application forms and guidelines from at http://www.jamaica.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/jet_programme.html.