I’m sure there are people who are currently attending an undergraduate program at another university in Japan, who do not have sufficient IT skills, or who have jobs that prevent them from studying abroad at Digital Nomad for two years. I will explain about Kirirom “Study abroad without giving up” that is possible even with covid situation from 3 months to 1 year.
Kirirom “Study abroad without giving up”
Program for 3months to 1 year
Currently in Cambodia, Japanese people can get a visa and stay for one year. For short-term overseas trips, quarantine for 14 * 2 = 28 days for a round trip may be a problem, but if you are staying in Cambodia for 3 months to 1 year for studying abroad, 28 days round trip is less than 10% of the total.
For those who stay for 3 months, we recommend an internship + intensive English study course. On the other hand, for those who wish to have a long term of one year, we recommend that you become an auditor at Kirirom Institute of Technology.
No reward will be paid for internships of up to 3 months, but will be paid for long-term internships of 4 months to 1 year. However, if you do an internship for 4 months or more, there is examination. You can undergo an ability / appropriate examination while you are in Kirirom, but you can also secure the right to an internship for 4 months or more in advance by taking it before leaving Japan. Up to 3 months, the element of learning is purely strong, but after the 4th month, the work side with output becomes stronger.
We will provide the program even during the two quarantine periods.(14 days * 2)
A 14-day quarantine is required at the hotel when traveling to Cambodia. You will also need to be quarantined for 14 days when you return to Japan. During these 28 days, you will be able to take intensive English courses. This 28-day exchange with Kirirom Institute of Technology and with internship students can be done online on Kirirom Digital Campus. Therefore, even if about one of the three months is in quarantine, the effect of studying abroad will increase.
Kirirom “Study abroad without giving up” is a program that is strong in job hunting.
Undergraduate students at Kirirom Institute of Technology study IT in English and train for global entrepreneurship in emerging countries. There are few other universities that can have this kind of experience, and I think that it seems that students have a very attractive experience for interviewers even when they are looking for a job in Japan.
There may be new encounters even with covid situation
Because of covid many people say that the chance to meet new people drastically reduced over the past year. This program is a real program, and up to 60 Japanese people will stay in Kirirom at the same time. I think it will be a very big encounter in Covid situation. There is also a community on the Japanese side that connects these 60 Kirirom residents with Kirirom Digital Campus, so I hope that the 60 participating people will become a hub and create new encounters.
After Kirirom’s “Study Abroad Never Give Up”, travel the world with friends you meet
Kirirom “Study Abroad without giving up” is a three-month program for staying in Kirirom, but we ask you to prepare one-year Cambodian visa. There are still options for a digital nomadic experience in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia, with fellow internships you met there after three months. There is a possibility that we can continue our digital nomad life in a country where Japanese people can stay beyond the border of Cambodia. In order to avoid having to get along with anyone after the internship, you can apply for “Study Abroad” after making friends on Kirirom Digital Campus while you are in Japan.
What kind of experience can we get from Kirirom’s 3-month internship?
Kirirom’s three-month internship is an internship that specializes in learning rather than producing output. One or two Japanese are assigned to the virtual company of Kirirom Institute of Technology, and Cambodians of Kirirom Institute of Technology go there. You can experience a simulated entrepreneurial experience, and if you wish, you can live in a room with a Cambodian for 3 months (single room is also available at no additional cost).
For dining, you can use the Pine View Kitchen, a restaurant for tourists, but you can also use the student cafeteria.
We recommend that 3 months students take an intensive English course. If you have a certain level of English proficiency and wish to stay for one year, you can also become an auditor at Kirirom Institute of Technology.
Synchronized students who participated in this program can connect to Kirirom Digital Campus and communicate online, but guests can be invited here. We are also looking forward to expanding the network with program participants as hubs.
How much will it cost?
As of March 2021, it costs 40,000 yen / one way if you calculate with a cheap plane ticket. Considering the ticket to return to Japan one year later, the plane cost is about 80,000 yen. In Japan Including the PCR test and visa acquisition cost, it is 100,000 yen.
A deposit of 2000 USD will be charged for self-restraint on the 14th in Cambodia. About $ 400 could come back. This includes two PCR tests, but it does not include the PCR test of about 20,000 yen paid at the time of departure, so the actual cost will be about 200,000 yen. The initial cost of participation in the program is 100,000 yen, the cost of stay is 100,000 yen / month, and the cost of the auditor or English course is 100,000 yen / month, so it will cost about 700,000 yen for 3 months. A total budget of about 1 million yen is required. In addition, additional travel costs will be incurred when traveling throughout Cambodia on Saturdays and Sundays.
Besides this, it costs 5000 / month to join Kirirom Digital Campus online before deciding to intern at Kirirom. This cost will be considered as part of the cost you would have paid if you actually attended the internship. (Maximum 30,000 yen)
If you leave Kirirom for 3 months and stay in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, it will be an activity after the program ends, so you will not need 200,000 yen / month including the accommodation fee and the auditor or English course fee. Even in that case, you will be required to participate in Kirirom Digital Campus until you return to Japan. (It costs 5,000 yen / month.) With Kirirom Digital Campus, you can communicate online with your friends who are still in Kirirom or who are waiting to study abroad in Japan.
Ways to participation in “Study Abroad without giving up”
With a one-year gap year
Are you currently joining university? In Japan, unlike before, blanks with a career of about one year are no longer a concern when getting a job. It is possible to take the plunge and take a year off to get a gap year and participate. Kirirom Institute of Technology also has university status, so please contact us first as there may be some faculties and departments that can be mutually certified by the university as a one-year study abroad program.
Join class of your university from Kirirom
If the university you are currently attending is a type of university where you can take all classes online, please come to Cambodia without taking a leave of absence, switch the access source campus to the university you are currently attending to Kirirom, and take university classes from Kirirom. This is a method that allows you to gain experience overseas without taking a leave of absence from university.
While having a job in your company
If your company isn’t doing well in the industry because of covid situation, why not offer to work online from Kirirom with cutting your salary and working hours in half? I think it may be a win-win proposal for the company and you.
We are also looking for 4-year undergraduate students.
A Japanese first-year student at Kirirom Institute of Technology has been getting job in one of the major IT companies in the United States called GAFAM. It seems that his English ability and advanced IT ability have been evaluated, so I think it is provied that our education policy is correct.
Before the covid situation, online learning was not recognized as a system of universities in Cambodia, but now it is also allowed to study and take tests online from Japan. As a result, Japanese students applied job in Japan, which led to a job offer from GAFAM. She received a job offer with the highest score from another foreign-affiliated company. I think it would be better to study at Kirirom for 3 years and stay in Japan or a country where you want to work for 1 year, but then it would be better for undergraduate students with a 4-year system to study abroad for a year like a digital nomad. We are currently discussing whether it is good or not. Also, there is a possibility that it is better to have a variation of 2 years Kirirom + 1 year Phnom Penh + 1 year Japan instead of 3 years Kirirom + 1 year Japan. It is also a benefit of the evolution of the world with the covid that it has become possible to have such discussions.
Admission timing of Kirirom Institute of Technology 4-year is November 2021.
We used to accept Japanese students in April, but from now on, all Japanese students will be admitted in November through the same process as Cambodian students. If we have some time after graduating from high school we think that there will be less mismatches because you have time to think carefully for the second half of the graduation year and try to avoid the ways which mismatches occurred in the past. In addition to cases such as “short time to enrollment”, “English proficiency has not reached the quasi-first level”, and “not visited in advance”, I hope that students like who “wanted to go to famous Japanese university” will be admitted which is the successfu case of existing Japanese students.
In the future, we are also looking for a transfer from a Japanese technical college in the third year. Information engineering students at Japanese technical colleges have a very high level of programming and AI, and though some are looking for entrepreneurship, their English skills are a little weak, so it is suitable for transfer to Kirirom Institute of Technology from the third grade. The Ministry of Education of Cambodia is positive about transfer from technical colleges.