150 locals on exchange programs in Japan safe
- Source: Global Times
- [08:28 March 15 2011]
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By Wang Yi
Shanghai Municipal Education Commission confirmed Monday that all 150 of the city's students and teachers currently on exchange programs in Japan are safe.
Authorities from East China Normal University said Monday that they have gotten in touch with five of their students on exchange in Yokohama and Kobe.
They and the school's remaining 19 students in other less-affected parts of Japan are safe, according to a statement released on the university's official Sina microblog.
Another some two dozen students from Fudan University, who were based in Sendai, one of the areas seriously impacted by the quake and tsunami, are also doing alright, said Fang Ming, the school's press officer.
Meanwhile, the majority of the university's other 400-plus students from Japan, 33 of whom come from five of the worst-hit areas, have all received calls from their families, he added.
Other local schools, including Shanghai Ocean University, East China University of Political Science and Law, Donghua University, said Monday that while they are still continuing efforts to track students down in Japan, most of them have been reached and appear to be okay given the situation.
The schools also assured they are doing everything to help their Japanese students through this difficult time.
"We're trying to get them in touch with their families," Fang, from Fudan University, told the Global Times. "We're also setting up counseling services for our Japanese students."
He added that Japanese students at the school have also started fund raising initiatives for their home country.
An estimated 8,000 Japanese university students currently study in the city, said the education commission.
Zhu Jialei contributed to this story