日本大學生加入災區工作

Recently the Asahi News reported the following:
文部科学省は全国の国公私立大学に対し、学生が東日本大震災の被災者支援ボランティアに参加した場合、その活動を大学の単位として認めるよう要請する方針を固めた。震災から約３週間がたち、被災地でも徐々にボランティアの受け入れ態勢が整うなか、学生による被災地支援の動きを後押しするねらいがある。　今週中にも各大学に、ボランティア活動を単位認定すること▽ボランティア活動のため休学する学生について、その間の授業料を免除すること▽保険に加入してケガなどに備えるよう学生に周知徹底することを求める文書を出す。　東日本大震災の発生当初は、被災地で食料やガソリンなどが不足し、ボランティアの学生が大勢で現地入りした場合、被災者に行き渡るべき物資を学生が消費してしまう懸念があった。　また、各地から支援に集まってきた人たちに仕事を割り振るボランティアセンター機能も整備されておらず、「募集がかかるまでは現地に行かなくてもできる支援活動を」（明治大学）と、被災地入りを自粛するよう学生に呼びかける大学もあった。　その後、被災地では物資不足は完全に解消されていないものの、被災各県のホームページなどでボランティアの募集が始まり、春休み中の学生たちが相次いで現地で活動を始めている。こうした状況から、文科省は学生のボランティア参加を推奨するねらいを込めて、通知を出すことにした。
(試譯文)
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology had decided on the policy of requesting national public and private universities in the whole country to take the activity of student's participation in the volunteer supporting of victims of the East Japan great earthquake as a unit of the university. It was three weeks since the earthquake disaster, in the stricken area, preparation for the reception of volunteers was gradually in order; there was the aim of backing up the relief activities in the stricken area using the support from students. Within this week, documents would be sent out to universities to request to know the recognized unit of voluntary work; the exemption from the tuition of those students who took leave of absence to do the volunteer work; the insurance added to take precautions against the injury etc were made known to the students clearly. Immediately after the occurrence of the East Japan great earthquake there was the worry that food and gasoline etc were insufficient in the vicinity of stricken area, and with the arrival of a large number of volunteer students entering in the stricken area, they would consume goods that had to be passed on to victims. Moreover, because the volunteer center's function to allocate work to the people who had been gathering at various locations to render support was not yet ready, there were universities that called out at students for self control on the entering of the stricken area, (Meiji University) said that "Before the recruitment, supporting service could be done even without going to the vicinity". Afterwards, although goods shortage was not completely gone in the stricken area, volunteer recruitment had been started on the homepage etc. in each of the stricken prefecture, and students during their spring vacation would keep coming one after another to start up activity in the locale. From such a situation, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, with the aim of recommending student's volunteer participation, sent out the notification.
In Japan, university students will be mobilized to do the relief work in the coming weeks.