Mr.Hisanori Kobayashi, Chief Executive Officer of the Fukurokuen Co., Ltd. also called as the Foreign Host Establishment (FHE) based in Toyohashi City, Aichi, Japan, expressed willingness to accept college senior students of the Visayas State University (VSU) who will undergo their internship in his establishment. 

During the consultation on January 20, 2016 with the VSU President Edgardo E. Tulin, together with some professors of the College of Agriculture and Food Science led by its dean, Dr. Victor B. Asio, where the first batch of interns composed of eight senior students shall come from, it was pointed out by Mr. Kobayashi that those who will be having their on-the-job training in Japan sometime in April or May this year shall be assigned either at the farming, harvesting and packaging of  perilla or beefsteak plant (Perillafrutescens (L.) Britt), a Japanese herb used as a garnish in cooking tempura, or in any other selected department as mutually agreed upon and in accordance with the internship plan program.

He also said that he prefers female interns as they have the patience and are hardworking especially that they will be meticulously examining the individual leaf of the perilla plant.

The company will shoulder the student-interns’ air transportation from Tacloban-Manila-Japan and vice versa, the board and lodging, medical insurance, and a monthly allowance of US$300 aside from the overtime/excess allowance.

The Memorandum of Agreement was signed on January 20, 2016 by Dr.Tulin and Mr. Kobayashi in the presence of Mr. Koji Omoto of Samurise General Incorporated based in Manila.  The MOA stipulates that the FHE shall accommodate and accept qualified agriculture student-interns who are recommended and endorsed by VSU and provide them the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge, skills and desirable attitudes in a multicultural work environment within a period of six months to one year.

Another MOA between VSU represented by Dr.Tulin and the Tanaka Noen Co. Ltd. represented by Mr. Kenichi Tanaka, Chief Executive Officer, was also signed on the same day relative to VSU students’ internship in Japan with the same privileges being offered by the Fukurokuen Co., Ltd. 

Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin, VSU President, together with Mr. Daniel M. Tudtud, Jr., Vice President for Planning, Resource Generation and External Affairs, participated in the Presidential Leadership Conference and Consultation on January 12-14, 2016 at the Marco Polo Hotel, OrtigasCenter, Pasig City.

            The 3-day conference organized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in partnership with the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) drew participation of some 200 presidents and vice presidents from the 113 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines.

            Hinged on the theme “Taking on the Growing Challenges in Philippine Higher Education”, the event aimed to jumpstart the implementation of the learning sessions as part of the professional advancement component under the proposed Higher Education Career System (HECS), and to gather inputs on the initial assessment of strategies and initiatives implemented under the Roadmap for Public Higher Education Reform 2011-2016.

            The vice presidents of the different SUCs throughout the country, preferably on planning, were also invited as observers in the conference and as participants in the consultation.