IMF Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (OAP)

Skill-Refreshing Courses

The JISPA offers special Skill-Refreshing Courses (SRC) to newly accepted scholars under the partnership track. The SRC aims to refresh English and mathematics/computational skills, in preparation for the masterfs programs in economics at the partnership universities.¹ It is typically held from mid-July to late-September, prior to commencing studies at the partnership universities. In the past six years, the SRC has been conducted at the International University of Japan in Niigata prefecture.²

The SRC comprises a six-week course in academic English (reading, writing, listening, and oral communication skills), a two-week course in mathematics/computational courses for economics (including statistical software), and a one-week course in Japanese language.

Incoming scholars with a TOEFL score below 600 (CBT 250 and IBT 100) or IETLS score below 7.0 will be requested to participate in the English component of the SRC. All of these scholars will also be expected to participate in the mathematics/computational skills component of the SRC. Incoming scholars who do not require the English component but do require the math component will be requested to participate in the latter only. The basis for this determination will be the math test score received at the time of selection and the partnership universities' requirements in this area.

Message from the Scholar:

Ms. Latdavanh Songvilay Attending SRC at IUJ was a truly precious experience since SRC did not only refresh my English and academic knowledge, but also provided me with a great opportunity to adjust to a new living environment and socialized with other JISPA scholars. I can confirm that these skills and friendships which I gained during the SRC made my studies at GRIPS easier and more enjoyable. In addition, I am sure that these skills will continue to be valuable and useful for my career.

Ms. Latdavanh Songvilay
Lao PDR
GRIPS 2008-2009
Research Officer of National Economic Research Institute
Ministry of Planning and Investment

¹The annual offering of the SRC is subject to budgetary resource availability.
²The institution that will conduct the SRC in the 2011–2012 academic year will be formally announced to incoming scholars at the time of their admission into the scholarship program.