The National Federation of University Co-operative Associations (NFUCA)* conducts 'Urgent! Survey for university students' amid the spread of Coronavirus infection
2020.06.11
The National Federation of University Co-operative Associations (NFUCA)*, one of the member organizations of JCCU, is the Apex of University Co-ops nationwide.
In response to the changes in the normal lives of university students due to the spread of COVID-19, NFUCA conducted an urgent survey for students from April 20 to 30, to clarify the future of university life and the themes that the university co-op should work on. This survey was conducted online targeting undergraduate and graduate students in Japan and received more than 35,000 responses.
The results of the survey are reported in four topics, "decrease in household income", "friends and ties with others", "future and career", and "studies" as shown below.
■ Decrease in household income:
・ Since my part-time job is now refrained from working, I have no income and that has compelled me to live in poverty.
・ I have no salary due to a sharp decrease in getting part-time jobs. The financial condition of my parents also has deteriorated and I can't ask them for help.
・ The working time of my part-time job has extremely reduced, and I cannot pay the tuition fee under this situation.
■ Friends and ties with others:
・ I'm a freshman, but no school entrance ceremony and I can't make friends, so I'm worried if I can fit in well when the face-to-face lectures at the university begin.
・ I'm scared because I have no real ties with friends in my everyday life.
・ Once the coronavirus has settled down, I would like the university co-op to organize friendship making event.
■ Future and Career:
・ I plan to acquire a nurse license, but I am worried that the training will be postponed and I wouldn't be able to qualify for the national examination.
・ I'm worried if I could do both job hunting and university graduation, so I would like the university to place particular importance on measures for fourth-year students.
■ Studies:
・ There are many universities conducting web lectures, but I would like to take face-to-face classes.
・ I want to request the universities for a tuition fee exemption or a refund.
・ I want the university to provide a learning environment that would support online classes.
In addition, the details of the results are also shown in the video below in Japanese, posted on the NFUCA's special website for the new coronavirus by Mr. YAZAMA Yudai, the Chairperson of Student Committee and Mr. TANAKA Sota, the Vice-Chair.
The NFUCA wishes that by publishing the results of the survey, many people will deepen their understanding of university students who are affected by the pandemic and improve their university life in the future.
* University co-ops in Japan are consumer cooperatives that mainly consist of students and faculty staff of universities, junior colleges, vocational schools, etc. There are some university co-ops where residents around the university are eligible to become members. The NFUCA is the national apex to which university co-ops in Japan are affiliated with.
University co-ops conduct businesses and activities to improve university life and work environment for students and faculty staff who are members. For example, on the university campus, university co-ops supply stationeries and computers necessary for school life, operate convenience stores that sell food and drinks, run book stores that sell textbooks, specialized books, dictionaries, etc., operate restaurants that provide balanced meals.
University co-ops also run travel agencies that offer tours of foreign language training and travel planning for the purpose of the environment and peace activities.
In addition to those projects, each university has a student committee organized by student members, and they are engaged in various activities to enrich the lives of university students.
English website of the NFUCA is here. https://www.univcoop.or.jp/en/index.html
