The education ministry has issued an order on LEC Tokyo Legal Mind University to improve the quality of its education, noting that most of its full-time faculty members are not actually teaching.
The action is the first taken under the School Education Law after it was revised in 2003 in line with a government deregulatory step enabling private businesses to set up a school in a designated zone.
The university was opened in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in 2004 by Tokyo Legal Mind K.K., which runs prep schools for bar exams and other professional exams. It is one of six universities established by joint-stock companies following the deregulation.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said Thursday that of the 173 full-time members on the faculty, including 131 professors, 106 are not giving lectures or engaged in research at the university, and 40 of the remaining 67, including six professors, concurrently held posts at prep schools and many on the full-time faculty were not being paid by the university.
The ministry has ordered the university to report on the steps being taken to improve within 30 days. A stronger measure may follow if the school fails to comply, ministry officials said.
"We offer our apologies for causing concern and inconvenience," said Katsuo Sorimachi, president of the university.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070127b4.html
Monday, January 29, 2007
Vocation tests priority at university
LEC Tokyo Legal Mind University, which was issued an improvement advisory by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry on Thursday, has been more focused on preparing students for vocational exams than offering a well-rounded university education.
The university, based in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, was criticized by the ministry for its "inadequate" management of faculty and courses.
"I haven't been called in by the university once since I became a professor," said a licensed small and medium enterprise management consultant who holds the title of professor at LEC university.
The consultant was recruited when the university was founded in 2004, but he has never taught at the school, supposedly because of a lack of students wanting to take his course.
Another man who used to be an assistant professor at the university quit in 2005 because he felt the university did not offer adequate support for academic research. He was, for example, not given a research room.
"The title 'professor' can make you look more important. I'd guess that some of the professors are in there purely for the prestige of the title," the man said.
According to the education ministry, about 100 professors do not actually engage in any teaching at the university.
The university's "campuses," comprising 14 different buildings, are scattered across the country, with the facilities shared with a preparatory school operated by the same company that runs the university.
The preparatory school is aimed at those studying for various vocational qualifications, but the education ministry discovered that in some cases, the university students were taking the same courses as preparatory school students and using the same textbooks.
In these cases, university and preparatory school students were typically asked to sit in on the same classes, but with the class given a different name. For example, the university's "Basics of law" course is called "Preparation for the third-class certificate in business practices" at the preparatory school.
When sitting the same classes, university students would be asked to sit in designated seats in the front row of the classroom.
A junior at the university who belongs to a campus in the Kanto region said: "For many courses, even some of the compulsory ones, the class starts at 7 p.m. It seem like this is done to allow students with jobs to attend classes.
"We feel that a lot of the time the university gives a higher priority to the preparatory school students the way the curriculum is arranged. But that's just the way it is, and we can't do anything about it."
There was a mixed response from students to the education ministry's improvement advisory.
Another junior, who said he hopes to become a business management consultant, said: "It's to our advantage to be able to attend the same class with students who are serious about what they study. I wouldn't have studied so much had I gone to some other university. I don't think the university is bad at all."
But another student, also a junior, said, "Professors here only teach the stuff necessary to pass vocational exams, and don't give us the academic foundation for reaching the correct conclusions ourselves, which is what I'm more interested in."
He said that after he graduates he plans to join a company that does not require any vocational certificates. "For those who aren't interested in studying for certificates, this isn't a comfortable place to be," he said.
(Jan. 27, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070127TDY02006.htm
The university, based in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, was criticized by the ministry for its "inadequate" management of faculty and courses.
"I haven't been called in by the university once since I became a professor," said a licensed small and medium enterprise management consultant who holds the title of professor at LEC university.
The consultant was recruited when the university was founded in 2004, but he has never taught at the school, supposedly because of a lack of students wanting to take his course.
Another man who used to be an assistant professor at the university quit in 2005 because he felt the university did not offer adequate support for academic research. He was, for example, not given a research room.
"The title 'professor' can make you look more important. I'd guess that some of the professors are in there purely for the prestige of the title," the man said.
According to the education ministry, about 100 professors do not actually engage in any teaching at the university.
The university's "campuses," comprising 14 different buildings, are scattered across the country, with the facilities shared with a preparatory school operated by the same company that runs the university.
The preparatory school is aimed at those studying for various vocational qualifications, but the education ministry discovered that in some cases, the university students were taking the same courses as preparatory school students and using the same textbooks.
In these cases, university and preparatory school students were typically asked to sit in on the same classes, but with the class given a different name. For example, the university's "Basics of law" course is called "Preparation for the third-class certificate in business practices" at the preparatory school.
When sitting the same classes, university students would be asked to sit in designated seats in the front row of the classroom.
A junior at the university who belongs to a campus in the Kanto region said: "For many courses, even some of the compulsory ones, the class starts at 7 p.m. It seem like this is done to allow students with jobs to attend classes.
"We feel that a lot of the time the university gives a higher priority to the preparatory school students the way the curriculum is arranged. But that's just the way it is, and we can't do anything about it."
There was a mixed response from students to the education ministry's improvement advisory.
Another junior, who said he hopes to become a business management consultant, said: "It's to our advantage to be able to attend the same class with students who are serious about what they study. I wouldn't have studied so much had I gone to some other university. I don't think the university is bad at all."
But another student, also a junior, said, "Professors here only teach the stuff necessary to pass vocational exams, and don't give us the academic foundation for reaching the correct conclusions ourselves, which is what I'm more interested in."
He said that after he graduates he plans to join a company that does not require any vocational certificates. "For those who aren't interested in studying for certificates, this isn't a comfortable place to be," he said.
(Jan. 27, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070127TDY02006.htm
Govt to keep corporate university ban / Ministry finds problems in schools
The government has decided to stay the lifting of a ban on the establishment of universities by joint-stock companies, currently only allowed in government-designated structural reform zones, due to a variety of problems found in already existing schools, government sources said Thursday.
The problems are both management- and academic-based.
One such school is LEC Tokyo Legal Mind University in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, established by Tokyo Legal Mind K.K. A number of law violations have been reported at the school, which was the first university established by a joint-stock corporation.
On Thursday, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry issued for the first time an improvement advisory to the university, based on the School Education Law, and demanded the university submit within 30 days a detailed report on the measures it has taken to improve its business practices.
Under the School Education Law, only academic corporations are allowed to establish and manage private schools.
However, by taking advantage of the special designated zone system for structural reform--which went into effect in fiscal 2003--corporations have become able to establish schools in the zones.
At present, there are six universities, 13 high schools and one middle school established by joint-stock companies.
Under the special zone system, successful deregulated rules are expanded to a nationwide basis after a certain period.
The government's Headquarters for the Promotion of Special Zones for Structural Reform has been studying the possibility of lifting the ban on corporate-run private schools within fiscal 2006, which ends on March 31.
However, an investigation by the ministry uncovered several problems, including:
-- Schools are running deficits.
-- Number of students are lower than claimed.
-- Teachers who continue to work outside school lack necessary abilities.
-- Libraries have few books on hand.
On the other hand, in its improvement advisory, the ministry cited two clear violations of its university establishment standards that involved full-time instructors and teaching methods.
Of the 173 full-time teachers, 106 have not taught any classes.
There were no teachers present at video-conducted classes, with questions and answers only being possible in about 1 percent of all such classes, according to the ministry.
Out of the 67 full-time teachers who were actually conducting classes, 40 instructors were also working at the national qualification examination prep school run by the corporation that established the university.
The prep school has branches nationwide.
The ministry also demanded the university remedy the problem regarding the integration of the university and prep school.
If the university cannot solve the problems listed in the advisory, the ministry will be forced to issue an order to close the university in the worst case.
The university opened in April 2004. Its establishment was approved only after three months' screening as an exceptional case for the first fiscal year of allowing establishment of schools by private joint-stock corporations.
(Jan. 26, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070126TDY01006.htm
The problems are both management- and academic-based.
One such school is LEC Tokyo Legal Mind University in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, established by Tokyo Legal Mind K.K. A number of law violations have been reported at the school, which was the first university established by a joint-stock corporation.
On Thursday, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry issued for the first time an improvement advisory to the university, based on the School Education Law, and demanded the university submit within 30 days a detailed report on the measures it has taken to improve its business practices.
Under the School Education Law, only academic corporations are allowed to establish and manage private schools.
However, by taking advantage of the special designated zone system for structural reform--which went into effect in fiscal 2003--corporations have become able to establish schools in the zones.
At present, there are six universities, 13 high schools and one middle school established by joint-stock companies.
Under the special zone system, successful deregulated rules are expanded to a nationwide basis after a certain period.
The government's Headquarters for the Promotion of Special Zones for Structural Reform has been studying the possibility of lifting the ban on corporate-run private schools within fiscal 2006, which ends on March 31.
However, an investigation by the ministry uncovered several problems, including:
-- Schools are running deficits.
-- Number of students are lower than claimed.
-- Teachers who continue to work outside school lack necessary abilities.
-- Libraries have few books on hand.
On the other hand, in its improvement advisory, the ministry cited two clear violations of its university establishment standards that involved full-time instructors and teaching methods.
Of the 173 full-time teachers, 106 have not taught any classes.
There were no teachers present at video-conducted classes, with questions and answers only being possible in about 1 percent of all such classes, according to the ministry.
Out of the 67 full-time teachers who were actually conducting classes, 40 instructors were also working at the national qualification examination prep school run by the corporation that established the university.
The prep school has branches nationwide.
The ministry also demanded the university remedy the problem regarding the integration of the university and prep school.
If the university cannot solve the problems listed in the advisory, the ministry will be forced to issue an order to close the university in the worst case.
The university opened in April 2004. Its establishment was approved only after three months' screening as an exceptional case for the first fiscal year of allowing establishment of schools by private joint-stock corporations.
(Jan. 26, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070126TDY01006.htm
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Osaka to offer comedy exam next fiscal year
The Osaka Prefectural Museum of Kamigata Comedy and Performing Arts in Chuo Ward, Osaka, a key base of Osaka's comedy community, is planning to offer a certificated exam on comedy in fiscal 2008.
According to a spokesman for the museum nicknamed Wahha Kamigata, the exam is intended to educate fans of the performing arts about comedy from Kamigata--an ancient name for the Kyoto and Osaka region. Initially, a trial exam will be given on Feb. 24 to determine the difficulty level and other factors relating to the real exam.
The plan follows similar exams being given by local governments and organizations on regional specialities.
According to the spokesman, the exam will be multiple-choice, covering the entire range of Kamigata performing arts, including manzai (rapid-fire comic dialogue), rakugo (comic monologue), rokyoku (chanting of classical stories), kodan (recitation of classical stories) and ordinary theatrical comedy.
The exam, tentatively named Waraken, will include a wide range of questions related to history, productions and contemporary gags.
A few examples of the kinds of questions included are: "Who is the historical figure featured in the classic rakugo story "Tanuki no Sai?" (answer: Sugawara no Michizane); "Who was the teacher of singer Tatsuo Kamon when he was a rakugo story-teller?" (Tsuruko Shofukutei); and "What is the famous gag of manzai duo Kodama & Hibiki Oki?" (Chick-chiki-chi).
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070125TDY16002.htm
According to a spokesman for the museum nicknamed Wahha Kamigata, the exam is intended to educate fans of the performing arts about comedy from Kamigata--an ancient name for the Kyoto and Osaka region. Initially, a trial exam will be given on Feb. 24 to determine the difficulty level and other factors relating to the real exam.
The plan follows similar exams being given by local governments and organizations on regional specialities.
According to the spokesman, the exam will be multiple-choice, covering the entire range of Kamigata performing arts, including manzai (rapid-fire comic dialogue), rakugo (comic monologue), rokyoku (chanting of classical stories), kodan (recitation of classical stories) and ordinary theatrical comedy.
The exam, tentatively named Waraken, will include a wide range of questions related to history, productions and contemporary gags.
A few examples of the kinds of questions included are: "Who is the historical figure featured in the classic rakugo story "Tanuki no Sai?" (answer: Sugawara no Michizane); "Who was the teacher of singer Tatsuo Kamon when he was a rakugo story-teller?" (Tsuruko Shofukutei); and "What is the famous gag of manzai duo Kodama & Hibiki Oki?" (Chick-chiki-chi).
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070125TDY16002.htm
Japanese students choose U.K. less
The number of Japanese and other East Asians coming to Britain to study English has fallen in recent years as more young people are opting to study the language at home.
The numbers from Japan are decreasing for several reasons -- a weak Japanese economy, the falling birthrate, the growing popularity of Chinese and more chances to study English at home.
This is one of the findings of a report commissioned by the British Council and presented recently in London.
The study says English language teachers and schools in Britain need to diversify their services to keep up with the changing needs of students.
JWT Education, the market research company that wrote the report, describes the global market as a "growing, changing, volatile and challenging creature."
According to figures provided by the British Council, the number of weeks spent in Britain by Japanese studying English fell between 1997 and 2001. In 1997, Japanese spent a combined 170,100 weeks in Britain. By 2001, the number had fallen to 123,626 weeks.
In 2002, the figure started to rise slightly and in 2004, Japanese spent 135,347 weeks in the United Kingdom.
The trend for Japanese students was similar to overall figures. The English-language sector registered growth every year from 2001 to 2004, following a four-year decline. Preliminary data for 2005 show mixed results and a potential modest decline based on the number of weeks spent by students in Britain, according to the report.
Japan is the second-biggest source of English language students for schools here, although the report says demand from Japan is slowing.
China, South Korea and Italy are some of the other big sources of students. There has been huge growth in the number of South Koreans and Chinese studying in the U.K., although the number of Chinese decreased substantially in 2004.
Despite the slowdown, Britain continues to attract the most international English language students.
The report says that while Britain remains the leading destination for English-language students, its dominant position has "lessened somewhat."
The United States, which is the second-most popular destination also saw a decline between 2000 and 2003, but experts put this down to security fears and the country's tightened control of its borders.
Australia recorded strong growth in the number of students from 1997 to 2005. The country attracts a large proportion of its students from Japan and other parts of Asia.
Emma Parker, education promotion officer at the British Council in Japan, said all of the large English-speaking countries -- Britain, the United States and Australia -- had seen reductions in the number of Japanese students.
Parker said the number of Japanese going to overseas universities appeared to be falling and this has had an impact on the number applying for English courses. Many students take English language courses to prepare for studying at a British university.
She said one reason for Britain's declining numbers is that there are "more and more potential study destinations, and so increased competition."
There are several Japanese-owned English-language schools located in neighboring parts of Asia, she said, and people are choosing to study other things.
"Although English skills remain very important in Japan, people's interests and employers' requirements are diversifying," she said. "Chinese, in particular, is growing in popularity as a language to learn."
Parker echoed the JWT report, saying British courses are quite expensive, with the pound's current strength against the, yen this could be a deterrent.
Parker and her team promote Britain as a study destination with exhibitions, leaflets and a Web site. They also work with local agents who arrange study trips to Britain.
The British Council in Japan is trying to encourage more Japanese undergraduates to study in Britain. The ratio of graduates to undergraduates is currently 50-50. The hope is that the students will enroll for a year of English before beginning their university studies.
The report gave suggestions for ways language-course providers can increase their business in Britain. The ideas include offering exams to international corporations, establishing more links with overseas institutions, increasing English-language teacher training and teaching high-level English for business purposes.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070120f3.html
The numbers from Japan are decreasing for several reasons -- a weak Japanese economy, the falling birthrate, the growing popularity of Chinese and more chances to study English at home.
This is one of the findings of a report commissioned by the British Council and presented recently in London.
The study says English language teachers and schools in Britain need to diversify their services to keep up with the changing needs of students.
JWT Education, the market research company that wrote the report, describes the global market as a "growing, changing, volatile and challenging creature."
According to figures provided by the British Council, the number of weeks spent in Britain by Japanese studying English fell between 1997 and 2001. In 1997, Japanese spent a combined 170,100 weeks in Britain. By 2001, the number had fallen to 123,626 weeks.
In 2002, the figure started to rise slightly and in 2004, Japanese spent 135,347 weeks in the United Kingdom.
The trend for Japanese students was similar to overall figures. The English-language sector registered growth every year from 2001 to 2004, following a four-year decline. Preliminary data for 2005 show mixed results and a potential modest decline based on the number of weeks spent by students in Britain, according to the report.
Japan is the second-biggest source of English language students for schools here, although the report says demand from Japan is slowing.
China, South Korea and Italy are some of the other big sources of students. There has been huge growth in the number of South Koreans and Chinese studying in the U.K., although the number of Chinese decreased substantially in 2004.
Despite the slowdown, Britain continues to attract the most international English language students.
The report says that while Britain remains the leading destination for English-language students, its dominant position has "lessened somewhat."
The United States, which is the second-most popular destination also saw a decline between 2000 and 2003, but experts put this down to security fears and the country's tightened control of its borders.
Australia recorded strong growth in the number of students from 1997 to 2005. The country attracts a large proportion of its students from Japan and other parts of Asia.
Emma Parker, education promotion officer at the British Council in Japan, said all of the large English-speaking countries -- Britain, the United States and Australia -- had seen reductions in the number of Japanese students.
Parker said the number of Japanese going to overseas universities appeared to be falling and this has had an impact on the number applying for English courses. Many students take English language courses to prepare for studying at a British university.
She said one reason for Britain's declining numbers is that there are "more and more potential study destinations, and so increased competition."
There are several Japanese-owned English-language schools located in neighboring parts of Asia, she said, and people are choosing to study other things.
"Although English skills remain very important in Japan, people's interests and employers' requirements are diversifying," she said. "Chinese, in particular, is growing in popularity as a language to learn."
Parker echoed the JWT report, saying British courses are quite expensive, with the pound's current strength against the, yen this could be a deterrent.
Parker and her team promote Britain as a study destination with exhibitions, leaflets and a Web site. They also work with local agents who arrange study trips to Britain.
The British Council in Japan is trying to encourage more Japanese undergraduates to study in Britain. The ratio of graduates to undergraduates is currently 50-50. The hope is that the students will enroll for a year of English before beginning their university studies.
The report gave suggestions for ways language-course providers can increase their business in Britain. The ideas include offering exams to international corporations, establishing more links with overseas institutions, increasing English-language teacher training and teaching high-level English for business purposes.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070120f3.html
Unified university entrance exams begin across Japan
Two-day unified entrance exams for universities and colleges began Saturday at 735 test centers across Japan, the second round of such tests based on reduced curricula launched in the 2002 academic year.
Saturday's exams include an English listening comprehension test introduced last year to boost the ability of Japanese students to communicate in the language.
The number of this year's applicants totaled 553,352, up about 2,000 from last year, reversing the recent downward trend stemming from falling birthrates.
The ratio of final-year high school students among total applicants stood at 78.5 percent, the highest so far, and that of those who have already graduated from high school totaled 20.4 percent.
Exams on civics, geography and history, Japanese, and foreign languages are set for Saturday, and those covering science and math on Sunday.
The number of four-year universities requiring their applicants to take the national exams totaled a record 607, and that of two- or three-year colleges totaled 148.
A total of 109 institutions require applicants to take exams on at least seven subjects in five core academic fields, unchanged from last year.
The government began organizing unified exams for national and local government-run universities and colleges in the 1979 academic year and upgraded them in the 1990 academic year for use also by private universities and colleges.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070120/kyodo/d8momg880.html
Saturday's exams include an English listening comprehension test introduced last year to boost the ability of Japanese students to communicate in the language.
The number of this year's applicants totaled 553,352, up about 2,000 from last year, reversing the recent downward trend stemming from falling birthrates.
The ratio of final-year high school students among total applicants stood at 78.5 percent, the highest so far, and that of those who have already graduated from high school totaled 20.4 percent.
Exams on civics, geography and history, Japanese, and foreign languages are set for Saturday, and those covering science and math on Sunday.
The number of four-year universities requiring their applicants to take the national exams totaled a record 607, and that of two- or three-year colleges totaled 148.
A total of 109 institutions require applicants to take exams on at least seven subjects in five core academic fields, unchanged from last year.
The government began organizing unified exams for national and local government-run universities and colleges in the 1979 academic year and upgraded them in the 1990 academic year for use also by private universities and colleges.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070120/kyodo/d8momg880.html
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Ministry eyes ordering company-run university to improve curriculums
The education ministry will ask a ministry panel to deliberate whether to order LEC Tokyo Legal Mind University to redress what it sees as problematic curriculums, ministry sources said Thursday.
The ministry has found that the university, established by a private business in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in 2004, has given its students the same courses given at a preparatory school run by the same company and students at the university were taking classes with those learning at the prep school, the sources said.
The ministry also sees it problematic that the university gives students video-recorded lectures, leaving little room for them to ask teachers questions, the sources added.
The ministry had told the university in writing to make improvements on these issues. In March 2006, it warned the university it may have violated the law, but the ministry has seen little improvement, the sources said.
If the order is issued, it will be the first such action under the School Education Law after it was revised in 2003 after a deregulatory measure that has enabled the establishment of a school run by a joint-stock company in a designated structural reform zone.
Measures the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is allowed to take against universities under the law have been limited to orders to shut down due to legal violations.
LEC Tokyo Legal Mind University is one of six universities established by joint-stock companies following government deregulation steps. It was set up by Tokyo Legal Mind K.K., which runs prep schools for bar exams and other professional exams.
The university offers both on-campus and correspondence courses focusing on national exams for various qualifications and public service exams. The enrollment limit for the school is 1,085 students per year.
"We will wait for the ministry's judgment on whether our practice has violated the law or not," a university official said. "If we are ordered to make improvements, we will examine the order's contents and make improvements in an earnest manner."
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070118/kyodo/d8mneeao0.html
The ministry has found that the university, established by a private business in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in 2004, has given its students the same courses given at a preparatory school run by the same company and students at the university were taking classes with those learning at the prep school, the sources said.
The ministry also sees it problematic that the university gives students video-recorded lectures, leaving little room for them to ask teachers questions, the sources added.
The ministry had told the university in writing to make improvements on these issues. In March 2006, it warned the university it may have violated the law, but the ministry has seen little improvement, the sources said.
If the order is issued, it will be the first such action under the School Education Law after it was revised in 2003 after a deregulatory measure that has enabled the establishment of a school run by a joint-stock company in a designated structural reform zone.
Measures the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is allowed to take against universities under the law have been limited to orders to shut down due to legal violations.
LEC Tokyo Legal Mind University is one of six universities established by joint-stock companies following government deregulation steps. It was set up by Tokyo Legal Mind K.K., which runs prep schools for bar exams and other professional exams.
The university offers both on-campus and correspondence courses focusing on national exams for various qualifications and public service exams. The enrollment limit for the school is 1,085 students per year.
"We will wait for the ministry's judgment on whether our practice has violated the law or not," a university official said. "If we are ordered to make improvements, we will examine the order's contents and make improvements in an earnest manner."
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070118/kyodo/d8mneeao0.html
EDUCATIONAL RENAISSANCE / Univ. homework starts before enrollment
You might think that university studies don't start until students are officially enrolled, but recently some universities have started instructing successful applicants who have gained admission early without taking conventional entrance examinations. It's almost as if the universities have a responsibility to motivate the students during the long gap between successful application and actual enrollment.
Ritsumeikan University is among the educational institutions offering preenrollment instruction.
"Bear in your mind that if you don't submit the assignments you have been given, your tutors will have words with you about it after you enroll [in April]," said a faculty member of Ritsumeikan University's College of Policy Science during a Dec. 23 briefing session for prospective students at the private university's campus in Kyoto.
Those attending the event, dubbed "Pre-entrance Day," were high school students and other successful candidates who had already gained admission to the university through special screening procedures such as the so-called admission office (AO) process--an approach that selects candidates using a variety of methods including interviews and reviews of documents.
This type of selection procedure takes place much earlier than regular entrance exams.
The College of Policy Science gave its prospective students the following assignments:
-- Write impressions of three books from a faculty reading list of 80 titles, using about 2,000 Japanese characters for each work.
-- Write opinions in English, between 50 and 100 words, based on one of several passages in English.
-- Write a report about 2,000 Japanese characters long concerning one of several presentations made by students already enrolled in the college. (The students gave presentations on such themes as "designating World Heritage sites and local environments.")
Nationwide, more than 40 percent of university students today have enrolled without taking conventional scholastic ability tests. At Ritsumeikan, about 30 percent of successful candidates for the 2007 enrollment won their places through early admission procedures, and 80 percent of them--or about 2,200--attended the university's fourth annual Pre-entrance Day.
The briefing session started at 10 a.m. with a lecture by a senior university official who discussed what kind of attitude students should have to help maintain and build on their scholastic abilities. He also explained what support the university offered to successful examinees for this purpose.
The university offers several Internet or correspondence courses on Japanese writing, English, mathematics and other subjects, while instruction on the Test of English as a Foreign Language is offered at its Kyoto campus. All these courses have fees, but every year 65 percent-70 percent of the university's total successful examinees apply to take lectures in the subjects.
"We're responsible for allowing them to enroll at the university without taking scholastic ability tests," said Makoto Katsumura, 49, an associate professor who is head of a university office set up to promote smooth translation from high school education. "Even if we can secure excellent students, it's meaningless if they lose their passion for study by the time they are actually enrolled."
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University--Ritsumeikan's sister institution in Beppu, Oita Prefecture--also offers similar courses, dubbed "Precollege Courses." These courses are actually run by Waseda juku prep school at its facilities in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The five courses deal with science, math and even "common sense" for student life.
Many other universities also offer similar kinds of preenrollment instruction. According to the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, for the 2006 enrollment, 222 out of the nation's 425 universities made their prospective students write reports, while 152 gave assignments on specific subjects. Writing reports about books was a requirement of 130 universities, while 81 put on lectures.
The AO process of screening candidates continues to spread, with 45 national and public universities, as well as 380 private institutions, using this approach for the 2006 enrollment, according to the ministry. These figures represent about 30 percent of national and public universities, and about 70 percent of all private bodies.
Currently, each national university can allocate up to 30 percent of its whole enrollment quota to those accepted through the AO approach. However, the Japan Association of National Universities has decided to allow its members to increase this ratio up to 50 percent beginning with the 2008 enrollment.
"With more enrollments through the AO approach, universities will have a new field to compete in terms of the preenrollment education they can offer," said Shigeru Ando, 53, a senior researcher at major prep school Yoyogi Seminar. "In doing so, this kind of education will probably split into two very different extremes--those offering remedial education of a high school level, and those giving a head start on university-level education."
Would-be art students can now phone in exams
OSAKA--Mobile phones are nearly as common as pencil cases in Japanese high schools these days, so one specialized university now offers an entrance exam that encourages students to use their phones the way they would use their pencils--to create art.
For a one-month period ending in mid-September 2006, Osaka Electro-Communication University's Department of Digital Art and Animation held what it called a "keitai entrance exam." Candidates who applied for admission via this method sent images they took using camera-equipped cell phones to a designated university e-mail address.
The images varied from landscapes and portraits to models of buildings the examinees made on their own. The rule was to make one work consisting of six images, giving comments on each one.
It was the second time the department administered a mobile phone entrance exam, with "Expanding" as the theme for the 2007 enrollment. After interviews with the examinees, who were required to explain the ideas behind their works, 21 of them passed successfully.
Before the introduction of the keitai entrance exams, some at the private university worried that the technique might not appear serious enough for an entrance exam, while others expressed concern about how submitted images could be verified as work created by the examinees themselves.
However, the university ultimately gave the go-ahead, concluding that the new method would work well enough as an entrance exam as long as the interviewers carefully listened to examinees' ideas about their submitted works.
Before introducing the keitai entrance exam, the Department of Digital Art and Animation had already administered three types of exams that did not involve conventional scholastic ability tests: the "art type," which involves an interview and drawing on the spot; the "creation type," in which the examinee brings sample artworks, such as digital images, music and animated images to an interview; and the "communication type," which consists of an interview and an essay.
The first two types are designed for examinees who are confident about their own artistic skills, while the last one is intended for those good at planning and presentation. The newly introduced keitai entrance exam is thought to appeal to those who fall somewhere between the two groups.
"Making a work consisting of six images is almost equal to storyboarding, which is necessary for producing video works," said Naoya Terayama, 38, associate professor who proposed the introduction of the keitai exam.
"So there's also a message in this approach: 'You can produce video works even if you've never formally studied the arts.'"
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20070118TDY14001.htm
Ritsumeikan University is among the educational institutions offering preenrollment instruction.
"Bear in your mind that if you don't submit the assignments you have been given, your tutors will have words with you about it after you enroll [in April]," said a faculty member of Ritsumeikan University's College of Policy Science during a Dec. 23 briefing session for prospective students at the private university's campus in Kyoto.
Those attending the event, dubbed "Pre-entrance Day," were high school students and other successful candidates who had already gained admission to the university through special screening procedures such as the so-called admission office (AO) process--an approach that selects candidates using a variety of methods including interviews and reviews of documents.
This type of selection procedure takes place much earlier than regular entrance exams.
The College of Policy Science gave its prospective students the following assignments:
-- Write impressions of three books from a faculty reading list of 80 titles, using about 2,000 Japanese characters for each work.
-- Write opinions in English, between 50 and 100 words, based on one of several passages in English.
-- Write a report about 2,000 Japanese characters long concerning one of several presentations made by students already enrolled in the college. (The students gave presentations on such themes as "designating World Heritage sites and local environments.")
Nationwide, more than 40 percent of university students today have enrolled without taking conventional scholastic ability tests. At Ritsumeikan, about 30 percent of successful candidates for the 2007 enrollment won their places through early admission procedures, and 80 percent of them--or about 2,200--attended the university's fourth annual Pre-entrance Day.
The briefing session started at 10 a.m. with a lecture by a senior university official who discussed what kind of attitude students should have to help maintain and build on their scholastic abilities. He also explained what support the university offered to successful examinees for this purpose.
The university offers several Internet or correspondence courses on Japanese writing, English, mathematics and other subjects, while instruction on the Test of English as a Foreign Language is offered at its Kyoto campus. All these courses have fees, but every year 65 percent-70 percent of the university's total successful examinees apply to take lectures in the subjects.
"We're responsible for allowing them to enroll at the university without taking scholastic ability tests," said Makoto Katsumura, 49, an associate professor who is head of a university office set up to promote smooth translation from high school education. "Even if we can secure excellent students, it's meaningless if they lose their passion for study by the time they are actually enrolled."
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University--Ritsumeikan's sister institution in Beppu, Oita Prefecture--also offers similar courses, dubbed "Precollege Courses." These courses are actually run by Waseda juku prep school at its facilities in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The five courses deal with science, math and even "common sense" for student life.
Many other universities also offer similar kinds of preenrollment instruction. According to the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, for the 2006 enrollment, 222 out of the nation's 425 universities made their prospective students write reports, while 152 gave assignments on specific subjects. Writing reports about books was a requirement of 130 universities, while 81 put on lectures.
The AO process of screening candidates continues to spread, with 45 national and public universities, as well as 380 private institutions, using this approach for the 2006 enrollment, according to the ministry. These figures represent about 30 percent of national and public universities, and about 70 percent of all private bodies.
Currently, each national university can allocate up to 30 percent of its whole enrollment quota to those accepted through the AO approach. However, the Japan Association of National Universities has decided to allow its members to increase this ratio up to 50 percent beginning with the 2008 enrollment.
"With more enrollments through the AO approach, universities will have a new field to compete in terms of the preenrollment education they can offer," said Shigeru Ando, 53, a senior researcher at major prep school Yoyogi Seminar. "In doing so, this kind of education will probably split into two very different extremes--those offering remedial education of a high school level, and those giving a head start on university-level education."
Would-be art students can now phone in exams
OSAKA--Mobile phones are nearly as common as pencil cases in Japanese high schools these days, so one specialized university now offers an entrance exam that encourages students to use their phones the way they would use their pencils--to create art.
For a one-month period ending in mid-September 2006, Osaka Electro-Communication University's Department of Digital Art and Animation held what it called a "keitai entrance exam." Candidates who applied for admission via this method sent images they took using camera-equipped cell phones to a designated university e-mail address.
The images varied from landscapes and portraits to models of buildings the examinees made on their own. The rule was to make one work consisting of six images, giving comments on each one.
It was the second time the department administered a mobile phone entrance exam, with "Expanding" as the theme for the 2007 enrollment. After interviews with the examinees, who were required to explain the ideas behind their works, 21 of them passed successfully.
Before the introduction of the keitai entrance exams, some at the private university worried that the technique might not appear serious enough for an entrance exam, while others expressed concern about how submitted images could be verified as work created by the examinees themselves.
However, the university ultimately gave the go-ahead, concluding that the new method would work well enough as an entrance exam as long as the interviewers carefully listened to examinees' ideas about their submitted works.
Before introducing the keitai entrance exam, the Department of Digital Art and Animation had already administered three types of exams that did not involve conventional scholastic ability tests: the "art type," which involves an interview and drawing on the spot; the "creation type," in which the examinee brings sample artworks, such as digital images, music and animated images to an interview; and the "communication type," which consists of an interview and an essay.
The first two types are designed for examinees who are confident about their own artistic skills, while the last one is intended for those good at planning and presentation. The newly introduced keitai entrance exam is thought to appeal to those who fall somewhere between the two groups.
"Making a work consisting of six images is almost equal to storyboarding, which is necessary for producing video works," said Naoya Terayama, 38, associate professor who proposed the introduction of the keitai exam.
"So there's also a message in this approach: 'You can produce video works even if you've never formally studied the arts.'"
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20070118TDY14001.htm
Kobe U. to collaborate with U.S., German universities on BCP
Kobe University will begin researching business continuity planning (BCP) in fiscal 2007 in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh in the United States and the University of Karlsruhe in Germany.
BCP contains a set of guidelines for companies to quickly resume their operations after a disaster.
As firms must continue to operate to ensure the early rehabilitation of disaster-stricken areas, the three universities will work together to establish measures to minimize disaster damage to companies.
BCP establishes concrete measures, including how to create backup systems and ensure a substitute office or employees. It has increased in popularity among firms in the United States and Europe after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. In Japan, the plan has also been of high interest, attracting many companies.
The University of Pittsburgh is known for its disaster medicine and risk management research, while a specialty of the University of Karlsruhe is disaster research.
Kobe University, which endured the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and is promoting research on minimizing disaster damage, will utilize the findings of the research on disaster-stricken companies to continue its own business restoration. It will then include the know-how of the other two universities that are advanced in BCP research and establish a system to draw up its own plan.
The three universities will receive aid from the European Commission's science and technology aid project.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070118TDY16003.htm
BCP contains a set of guidelines for companies to quickly resume their operations after a disaster.
As firms must continue to operate to ensure the early rehabilitation of disaster-stricken areas, the three universities will work together to establish measures to minimize disaster damage to companies.
BCP establishes concrete measures, including how to create backup systems and ensure a substitute office or employees. It has increased in popularity among firms in the United States and Europe after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. In Japan, the plan has also been of high interest, attracting many companies.
The University of Pittsburgh is known for its disaster medicine and risk management research, while a specialty of the University of Karlsruhe is disaster research.
Kobe University, which endured the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and is promoting research on minimizing disaster damage, will utilize the findings of the research on disaster-stricken companies to continue its own business restoration. It will then include the know-how of the other two universities that are advanced in BCP research and establish a system to draw up its own plan.
The three universities will receive aid from the European Commission's science and technology aid project.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070118TDY16003.htm
Britain sees slowdown in Japanese studying English
The number of Japanese learning English in Britain has slowed in recent years, amid signs that growing numbers of young people from East Asia are opting to study in their home country rather than venture overseas.
Experts put the tailing off down to many factors, including the state of the Japanese economy, falling birthrate, the popularity of Chinese and the increasing provision of English language teaching in the region.
The findings formed part of a report commissioned by the British Council and recently presented to a seminar in London. The study argues English language teachers and schools in Britain need to diversify the scope of their services in order to keep up with the changing landscape.
The report by market research company, JWT Education, describes the global market as a "growing, changing, volatile and challenging creature."
According to figures provided by the Council, the number of weeks spent in Britain by Japanese studying English fell between 1997 and 2001, and has plateaued out in recent years. In 1997, Japanese spent 170,100 weeks in Britain. By 2001, this had fallen to 123,626 weeks.
In 2002, the figures picked up again and in 2004 Japanese spent 135,347 weeks in the United Kingdom. However, numbers are expected to be down for 2005.
The figures for Japan were also reflected in the overall statistics for the British market. The English language sector registered growth every year from 2001-2004 following a four-year-long period of decline. But preliminary data for 2005 show mixed results and a potential modest decline based on the number of weeks spent by students in Britain, according to the report.
Despite the slowdown in recent years, Britain continues to attract the highest number of international English language students. And Japan is the second biggest source of English language students for schools in Britain. However, the report notes that demand from Japan is "slowing." Chinese, South Korean and Italian students are also some of the largest sources.
Recent years have seen a huge growth in South Korean and Chinese students but the latter declined substantially in 2004.
The report says that while Britain remains the leading destination for English language students, its dominant position has "lessened somewhat." The United States, which is the second most popular destination also saw a decline between 2000 and 2003 but experts put this down to security fears and a tightening up in immigration rules.
The report found, however, that Australia recorded strong growth from 1997 to 2005, which attracts a large proportion of students from Japan and other Asian countries.
Emma Parker, education promotion officer at the British Council in Japan, said all of the large English-speaking countries -- Britain, the United States and Australia -- had seen reductions in Japanese students. She added that the number of Japanese going to overseas universities appeared to be falling, and this inevitably impacted on applications for English courses. (many students take English language courses before studying at a foreign university).
As well as the simple fact that there are fewer younger Japanese people, Parker put the decline down to "more and more potential study destinations, and so increased competition."
She said there were several Japanese-owned English language schools located in nearby Asian countries and, "although English skills remain very important in Japan, people's interests and employers' requirements are diversifying.
"Chinese, in particular, is growing in popularity as a language to learn."
Parker said courses were quite expensive in Britain, as the JWT report noted and, given the pound's current strength against the yen, this could act as an added disincentive.
Parker and her team promote Britain as a study destination to Japanese students by holding exhibitions, distributing leaflets and running websites. They also work with agents who arrange study trips to Britain.
They are also increasingly trying to encourage more Japanese undergraduates to come and study in Britain, with the balance between graduates and undergraduates currently standing at fifty-fifty. The hope is that Japanese students will study English for a year before progressing to university.
The report identified new ways for providers to increase business in Britain in the English language sector. This includes providing exams for international corporations, establishing more links with overseas institutions, increasing English language teacher training and teaching high-level English for business purposes.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070116/kyodo/d8mmgdvo0.html
Experts put the tailing off down to many factors, including the state of the Japanese economy, falling birthrate, the popularity of Chinese and the increasing provision of English language teaching in the region.
The findings formed part of a report commissioned by the British Council and recently presented to a seminar in London. The study argues English language teachers and schools in Britain need to diversify the scope of their services in order to keep up with the changing landscape.
The report by market research company, JWT Education, describes the global market as a "growing, changing, volatile and challenging creature."
According to figures provided by the Council, the number of weeks spent in Britain by Japanese studying English fell between 1997 and 2001, and has plateaued out in recent years. In 1997, Japanese spent 170,100 weeks in Britain. By 2001, this had fallen to 123,626 weeks.
In 2002, the figures picked up again and in 2004 Japanese spent 135,347 weeks in the United Kingdom. However, numbers are expected to be down for 2005.
The figures for Japan were also reflected in the overall statistics for the British market. The English language sector registered growth every year from 2001-2004 following a four-year-long period of decline. But preliminary data for 2005 show mixed results and a potential modest decline based on the number of weeks spent by students in Britain, according to the report.
Despite the slowdown in recent years, Britain continues to attract the highest number of international English language students. And Japan is the second biggest source of English language students for schools in Britain. However, the report notes that demand from Japan is "slowing." Chinese, South Korean and Italian students are also some of the largest sources.
Recent years have seen a huge growth in South Korean and Chinese students but the latter declined substantially in 2004.
The report says that while Britain remains the leading destination for English language students, its dominant position has "lessened somewhat." The United States, which is the second most popular destination also saw a decline between 2000 and 2003 but experts put this down to security fears and a tightening up in immigration rules.
The report found, however, that Australia recorded strong growth from 1997 to 2005, which attracts a large proportion of students from Japan and other Asian countries.
Emma Parker, education promotion officer at the British Council in Japan, said all of the large English-speaking countries -- Britain, the United States and Australia -- had seen reductions in Japanese students. She added that the number of Japanese going to overseas universities appeared to be falling, and this inevitably impacted on applications for English courses. (many students take English language courses before studying at a foreign university).
As well as the simple fact that there are fewer younger Japanese people, Parker put the decline down to "more and more potential study destinations, and so increased competition."
She said there were several Japanese-owned English language schools located in nearby Asian countries and, "although English skills remain very important in Japan, people's interests and employers' requirements are diversifying.
"Chinese, in particular, is growing in popularity as a language to learn."
Parker said courses were quite expensive in Britain, as the JWT report noted and, given the pound's current strength against the yen, this could act as an added disincentive.
Parker and her team promote Britain as a study destination to Japanese students by holding exhibitions, distributing leaflets and running websites. They also work with agents who arrange study trips to Britain.
They are also increasingly trying to encourage more Japanese undergraduates to come and study in Britain, with the balance between graduates and undergraduates currently standing at fifty-fifty. The hope is that Japanese students will study English for a year before progressing to university.
The report identified new ways for providers to increase business in Britain in the English language sector. This includes providing exams for international corporations, establishing more links with overseas institutions, increasing English language teacher training and teaching high-level English for business purposes.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070116/kyodo/d8mmgdvo0.html
Keio University to build new campus in Osaka
In a development that could provide a new twist in competition among Japan's private universities, Tokyo-based Keio University says it will set up its first base in western Japan from spring 2008.
Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of Keio's founding. The move reflects the institution's ties with Osaka as that is where Fukuzawa Yukichi, Keio's founder, was born.
Keio will rent out floor space in a building to be built on the site on which a hospital affiliated with Osaka University's Faculty of Medicine used to stand.
Students living in the Kansai area will be able to take courses through a long-distance learning program using the Internet. Keio also plans to set up a research base in cooperation with the industrial sector.
According to Keio sources, the university's board of trustees decided on the Osaka move on Dec. 15.
Keio currently has five campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. The main campus is in Mita in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Keio also has research bases in Kawasaki and Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture.
The university also has a base in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward for those who are already working but want to continue with their studies.
Fukuzawa was born to a low-ranking samurai with the Nakatsu clan, from what is now Oita Prefecture. The Nakatsu clan had a compound next to the Dojimagawa river in what is now Osaka's Fukushima Ward.
Fukuzawa studied at the Tekijuku school operated by the Dutch scholar Ogata Koan in Osaka. He later served as the head of the school before founding in 1858 the school that would become Keio.
The site where a new 14-story building is being constructed contains a sign indicating that Fukuzawa was born there.
Keio will rent out the third floor of the building. While final details have not been set, the facility will occupy about 400 square meters of floor space.
Keio plans to set up two new graduate programs on its Hiyoshi campus in Yokohama from April 2008. Students in Osaka will be able to sit in on seminars in the media design program and system design and management program through online learning programs.
The Osaka base will also encourage joint research endeavors with companies in the Kansai area.
Keio sources said there were also plans to use the facility for Keio's business school.
Keio officials said the move to Osaka was made to honor the birthplace of the university's founder.
"We do not yet foresee strategic elements related to competition among private universities," said one Keio official.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200701170186.html
Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of Keio's founding. The move reflects the institution's ties with Osaka as that is where Fukuzawa Yukichi, Keio's founder, was born.
Keio will rent out floor space in a building to be built on the site on which a hospital affiliated with Osaka University's Faculty of Medicine used to stand.
Students living in the Kansai area will be able to take courses through a long-distance learning program using the Internet. Keio also plans to set up a research base in cooperation with the industrial sector.
According to Keio sources, the university's board of trustees decided on the Osaka move on Dec. 15.
Keio currently has five campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. The main campus is in Mita in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Keio also has research bases in Kawasaki and Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture.
The university also has a base in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward for those who are already working but want to continue with their studies.
Fukuzawa was born to a low-ranking samurai with the Nakatsu clan, from what is now Oita Prefecture. The Nakatsu clan had a compound next to the Dojimagawa river in what is now Osaka's Fukushima Ward.
Fukuzawa studied at the Tekijuku school operated by the Dutch scholar Ogata Koan in Osaka. He later served as the head of the school before founding in 1858 the school that would become Keio.
The site where a new 14-story building is being constructed contains a sign indicating that Fukuzawa was born there.
Keio will rent out the third floor of the building. While final details have not been set, the facility will occupy about 400 square meters of floor space.
Keio plans to set up two new graduate programs on its Hiyoshi campus in Yokohama from April 2008. Students in Osaka will be able to sit in on seminars in the media design program and system design and management program through online learning programs.
The Osaka base will also encourage joint research endeavors with companies in the Kansai area.
Keio sources said there were also plans to use the facility for Keio's business school.
Keio officials said the move to Osaka was made to honor the birthplace of the university's founder.
"We do not yet foresee strategic elements related to competition among private universities," said one Keio official.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200701170186.html
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Rented campuses to be permitted
In an easing of the regulation that obliges private universities to have ownership of their land and buildings, the government likely will permit educational corporations to establish universities using leased land and buildings, sources said.
The deregulation is aimed at supporting local governments hoping to attract private universities.
The Education, Science and Technology Ministry will adopt the new regulation for applications to establish universities in the 2007 academic year, according to the sources.
The deregulation to allow leased land and buildings for schools will be implemented nationwide, as it is currently only applied to special deregulation zones, including Tokyo's Chiyoda and Shinjuku wards.
The government plans to rule that contracts for land and buildings leaseholds should be about 20 years to ensure the stable management of educational institutions over a long period, according to the sources.
At present, educational corporations have to purchase land and buildings when establishing universities and such a heavy financial burden has caused corporations to lose interest in opening universities or establishing new departments, hindering the efforts of local governments to attract new schools.
With rented accommodation, the establishment of universities in areas where the cost of land and buildings is very high, such as central Tokyo, will become significantly easier than it is now.
(Jan. 13, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070113TDY03004.htm
The deregulation is aimed at supporting local governments hoping to attract private universities.
The Education, Science and Technology Ministry will adopt the new regulation for applications to establish universities in the 2007 academic year, according to the sources.
The deregulation to allow leased land and buildings for schools will be implemented nationwide, as it is currently only applied to special deregulation zones, including Tokyo's Chiyoda and Shinjuku wards.
The government plans to rule that contracts for land and buildings leaseholds should be about 20 years to ensure the stable management of educational institutions over a long period, according to the sources.
At present, educational corporations have to purchase land and buildings when establishing universities and such a heavy financial burden has caused corporations to lose interest in opening universities or establishing new departments, hindering the efforts of local governments to attract new schools.
With rented accommodation, the establishment of universities in areas where the cost of land and buildings is very high, such as central Tokyo, will become significantly easier than it is now.
(Jan. 13, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070113TDY03004.htm
Osaka univs. discuss cooperation
Osaka Prefecture University and Osaka City University on Friday began discussing avenues of cooperation, including reciprocal admission without exams, a credit transfer system and joint research, at a council meeting held by the prefectural and municipal governments.
Competition among universities to attract students is expected to be fierce as the number of applicants will fall to the total enrollment limit of all universities and colleges in the nation in fiscal 2007. The two universities hope to enhance their profiles through the cooperation.
The prefectural university has seven faculties, including the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, and 6,500 students. It has a strong reputation in the fields of agriculture and nursing.
The city university has eight faculties with about 7,100 students, including a medical and business school. It also has a hospital and a law school and offers evening courses.
The two universities have been reluctant to cooperate with each other, while other universities have made various reforms to maintain the number of students as fiscal 2007 approaches.
(Jan. 13, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070113TDY03002.htm
Competition among universities to attract students is expected to be fierce as the number of applicants will fall to the total enrollment limit of all universities and colleges in the nation in fiscal 2007. The two universities hope to enhance their profiles through the cooperation.
The prefectural university has seven faculties, including the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, and 6,500 students. It has a strong reputation in the fields of agriculture and nursing.
The city university has eight faculties with about 7,100 students, including a medical and business school. It also has a hospital and a law school and offers evening courses.
The two universities have been reluctant to cooperate with each other, while other universities have made various reforms to maintain the number of students as fiscal 2007 approaches.
(Jan. 13, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070113TDY03002.htm
Japanese Children to Be Tracked Down Via Mobile Phone
The Japanese Government will spend no less than $10 million on a trial system that allows parents and teachers to tack down the movement of kids with the help of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag technology. The RFID tag can easily be attached to or included into practically anything, therefore also a mobile phone.
The mobile phone equipped with a RFID tag can be identified by using radio waves, and by placing RFID readers and communication devices at school gates as well as electronic polls the mobile phone's location, therefore the child's location can be determined with great ease.
This would not be the first time that Japanese parents try to figure out a way to keep their kids safe with the help of mobile phones. Many mobile phone manufacturers have provided mobile phones for kids and it is very common for a child to be equipped with a mobile phone with GPS capabilities or other GPS devices.
While parents will always worry about their children's safety (especially Japanese parents who are always coming up with a more efficient way to track down their kids), the purpose of the system that the Japanese Government is currently trying to perfect is to alert both parents and teachers when kids leave school without permission (so kids will not get to skip school anymore) as well as notify them when they enter certain zones that were pre-defined, considered dangerous. The Japanese Government will be conducting pilot tests in 20 regions across the country and we have yet to find out whether it will be a success or not.
If it is, it is very likely that other countries will consider doing the same.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Japanese-Children-To-Be-Tracked-Down-Via-Mobile-Phone-44236.shtml
The mobile phone equipped with a RFID tag can be identified by using radio waves, and by placing RFID readers and communication devices at school gates as well as electronic polls the mobile phone's location, therefore the child's location can be determined with great ease.
This would not be the first time that Japanese parents try to figure out a way to keep their kids safe with the help of mobile phones. Many mobile phone manufacturers have provided mobile phones for kids and it is very common for a child to be equipped with a mobile phone with GPS capabilities or other GPS devices.
While parents will always worry about their children's safety (especially Japanese parents who are always coming up with a more efficient way to track down their kids), the purpose of the system that the Japanese Government is currently trying to perfect is to alert both parents and teachers when kids leave school without permission (so kids will not get to skip school anymore) as well as notify them when they enter certain zones that were pre-defined, considered dangerous. The Japanese Government will be conducting pilot tests in 20 regions across the country and we have yet to find out whether it will be a success or not.
If it is, it is very likely that other countries will consider doing the same.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Japanese-Children-To-Be-Tracked-Down-Via-Mobile-Phone-44236.shtml
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Improving schooling for young foreign students
More than 2 million foreigners live in Japan--a figure corresponding to the population of Tochigi Prefecture. Moreover, about 70,000 non-Japanese children attend public schools in this country. Approximately 20,000 of them need Japanese-language instruction, and their number is increasing every year.
I am in charge of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry's education policy for foreign children studying at public schools. Specifically, I carry out operations that include the development and dissemination of Japanese as a Second Language (JSL) curriculum--methods of teaching Japanese to children who use it as their second language--evaluating the circumstances of children who are not attending school, and promoting school enrollment.
From my experience related to the teaching of foreign schoolchildren, I would like to share a number of perspectives and thoughts concerning the problems foreigners face in Japan.
First is the idea that "if the adult life isn't stable, children's education won't be stable, either." This is especially applicable to the problems related to the education of children of newcomers to Japan--whose numbers have dramatically increased since the 1980s and particularly since 1990, when the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law was put into force, resulting in greater numbers of people of Japanese descent from South America coming here.
Many newcomer households have both parents or guardians working long hours for low wages. Therefore, when the children return home from school, there is no parent to look after them, and they are left alone. Moreover, there are also youngsters who are sometimes forced to stay away from school in order to take care of their younger siblings.
Japanese schools have a tradition of teachers paying guidance visits to the homes of their students periodically or when necessity arises. Consequently, in consideration of the parents' working hours, school teachers must make visits to homes of such foreign children to give individual advice and guidance late at night or on holidays. Furthermore, sometimes because the parents do not speak Japanese, the teacher may have to go to the extra trouble of bringing along an interpreter when visiting such a household.
Upon viewing this sort of situation, I have keenly felt the need to provide Japanese-language instruction to the parents of such children, and I think we must also consider their working and living conditions, too. Some other countries, when accepting foreign residents, offer language instruction as well as explanations about national culture, history and other information.
Examples found in nations with a long history of admitting foreign residents can probably serve as references.
Next is the social responsibility of companies regarding issues related to foreigners. Many newcomers work for firms that recruit staff from employment agencies and so do not receive direct payments from their employers. I feel that the companies that hire foreigners and the industries those firms are a part of should exercise greater social responsibility as the entities that hire and profit from foreign workers, in addition to the other social responsibilities relating to their particular fields of activity.
On top of that, support from foreigners' native countries seems necessary. Requests for assistance for schools teaching children of Latin American origin have been made by the local governing bodies of localities where many Latinos live. If there were assistance from the countries concerned, it would be easier to operate schools for foreign children and that would, in turn, be favorable to the schoolchildren's parents.
In the case of the government, from the standpoint of providing, to the extent it is possible, an education equivalent to that offered in Japan to Japanese of compulsory education age who are living overseas, it has been providing various kinds of assistance to schools teaching Japanese children in other countries, including dispatching teachers and arranging educational materials.
On the same basis, we have, for example, lately been consulting with the Brazilian government through diplomatic channels to ensure that appropriate support is offered by that nation for Brazilian children in Japan.
It seems likely Japanese society from now on will be pressed with a need for Japanese and non-Japanese people to coexist and also to construct a society where diverse cultures can coexist.
Coexistence can be realized when mutually autonomous subjects face each other with a spirit of independence. When foreigners live in Japan, they must naturally pay such things as taxes and social insurance, and abide by the regulations of the area where they reside. I believe that when considering various new policies, it will be necessary to formulate them based on the standpoint of coexistence and independence. Tezuka is director of the International Education Division of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry. After serving as director of the Refugee Assistance Division of the Foreign Ministry, consul of the Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong, and director of the Domestic Public Relations Division of the ministry, Tezuka assumed his present position in July 2005.
(Jan. 11, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070111TDY04002.htm
I am in charge of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry's education policy for foreign children studying at public schools. Specifically, I carry out operations that include the development and dissemination of Japanese as a Second Language (JSL) curriculum--methods of teaching Japanese to children who use it as their second language--evaluating the circumstances of children who are not attending school, and promoting school enrollment.
From my experience related to the teaching of foreign schoolchildren, I would like to share a number of perspectives and thoughts concerning the problems foreigners face in Japan.
First is the idea that "if the adult life isn't stable, children's education won't be stable, either." This is especially applicable to the problems related to the education of children of newcomers to Japan--whose numbers have dramatically increased since the 1980s and particularly since 1990, when the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law was put into force, resulting in greater numbers of people of Japanese descent from South America coming here.
Many newcomer households have both parents or guardians working long hours for low wages. Therefore, when the children return home from school, there is no parent to look after them, and they are left alone. Moreover, there are also youngsters who are sometimes forced to stay away from school in order to take care of their younger siblings.
Japanese schools have a tradition of teachers paying guidance visits to the homes of their students periodically or when necessity arises. Consequently, in consideration of the parents' working hours, school teachers must make visits to homes of such foreign children to give individual advice and guidance late at night or on holidays. Furthermore, sometimes because the parents do not speak Japanese, the teacher may have to go to the extra trouble of bringing along an interpreter when visiting such a household.
Upon viewing this sort of situation, I have keenly felt the need to provide Japanese-language instruction to the parents of such children, and I think we must also consider their working and living conditions, too. Some other countries, when accepting foreign residents, offer language instruction as well as explanations about national culture, history and other information.
Examples found in nations with a long history of admitting foreign residents can probably serve as references.
Next is the social responsibility of companies regarding issues related to foreigners. Many newcomers work for firms that recruit staff from employment agencies and so do not receive direct payments from their employers. I feel that the companies that hire foreigners and the industries those firms are a part of should exercise greater social responsibility as the entities that hire and profit from foreign workers, in addition to the other social responsibilities relating to their particular fields of activity.
On top of that, support from foreigners' native countries seems necessary. Requests for assistance for schools teaching children of Latin American origin have been made by the local governing bodies of localities where many Latinos live. If there were assistance from the countries concerned, it would be easier to operate schools for foreign children and that would, in turn, be favorable to the schoolchildren's parents.
In the case of the government, from the standpoint of providing, to the extent it is possible, an education equivalent to that offered in Japan to Japanese of compulsory education age who are living overseas, it has been providing various kinds of assistance to schools teaching Japanese children in other countries, including dispatching teachers and arranging educational materials.
On the same basis, we have, for example, lately been consulting with the Brazilian government through diplomatic channels to ensure that appropriate support is offered by that nation for Brazilian children in Japan.
It seems likely Japanese society from now on will be pressed with a need for Japanese and non-Japanese people to coexist and also to construct a society where diverse cultures can coexist.
Coexistence can be realized when mutually autonomous subjects face each other with a spirit of independence. When foreigners live in Japan, they must naturally pay such things as taxes and social insurance, and abide by the regulations of the area where they reside. I believe that when considering various new policies, it will be necessary to formulate them based on the standpoint of coexistence and independence. Tezuka is director of the International Education Division of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry. After serving as director of the Refugee Assistance Division of the Foreign Ministry, consul of the Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong, and director of the Domestic Public Relations Division of the ministry, Tezuka assumed his present position in July 2005.
(Jan. 11, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070111TDY04002.htm
Shanghai deviates from university norm
When Naoya Karita finished high school in March 2005, he felt he had two choices -- one was to attend a popular university near his hometown and the other was to go to a school in Shanghai.
Takamasa Nakagawa studies Chinese at the International Cultural Exchange School at Fudan University on Dec. 22.
Carefully weighing the two options, including the then soured relations between Japan and China on his campus life, Karita nonetheless picked Shanghai.
"Having studied Chinese, I wanted to do something that could help enhance communication between people in Japan and China," Karita, 20, said. "I didn't want to find myself engaging in things many dull people at Japanese universities do, such as club activities, part-time jobs and parties."
Karita, a native of Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is among 32 students taking part in a five-year academic program jointly begun by Japanese and Chinese educational institutions in 2005.
The program, designed to provide students from Japan a good command of the Chinese language to enhance their job opportunities, is sponsored by the International Cultural Exchange School of Fudan University in Shanghai and an affiliate of Oshu Corp., a Hiroshima-based educational corporation that runs various cram schools as well as a junior high school.
Under the program, students first study basic Chinese in Hiroshima for four months starting in April. In September, they move to Fudan University, where they will spend at least three years obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Oshu dispatched 14 students in 2006. The first batch will graduate from the Shanghai school in 2010.
Zhu Yongsheng, dean of the school, said, "Through learning the Chinese language, we hope to promote mutual understanding between Chinese people and Japanese people, which is, to me, more important than learning how to speak Chinese."
Katsumi Kuwabara, who heads AIC New Zealand Ltd., an affiliate of Oshu, hopes more young Japanese will be interested in the program and become experts in Chinese.
"If you go to a handful of prestigious universities (in Japan), that means a lot. But what good are the others, especially when you major in humanities? You could get nothing" that helps you land a good job, Kuwabara said, adding that high school students and their parents are increasingly concerned about this apparent drawback.
Shuji Makiya, one of the 32 students, found it difficult to determine what he really wanted to do when he was attending an Oshu cram school as a high school senior.
He thought he might be interested in the humanities but was unsure of which specific branch and had no clue about which university to attend.
Makiya, 20, decided to go to the Shanghai school mainly because he "wanted to do something different from what others are doing."
Takamasa Nakagawa, 19, joined the program last year after thinking it would mean little if he were to attend a Japanese university like so many others.
Consultants on youth education say some Japanese teenagers study abroad for academic reasons, but many are trying to escape what they perceive as a lackluster life in Japan.
But the situation was different for students Karita, Makiya and Nakagawa, all of whom passed entrance exams for well-known universities -- Hiroshima University, Doshisha University and Meiji University. Despite that, they opted to pursue their studies abroad.
A researcher on youth employment said students in Japan are under strong pressure to "arm" themselves with unique skills to give them an advantage in the job hunt.
Chinese-language ability seems to be a bankable asset now that corporations are showing signs of improvement and looking to hire, said Reiko Kosugi, research director of the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training.
Unlike companies in many other countries, major Japanese firms usually hire a large number of full-term employees straight out of school only once a year, mostly in April. "If (fresh graduates) miss the opportunity . . . it can have a large effect on their lifetime income," Kosugi said.
But many institutions of higher learning in Japan focus too much attention on teaching academic subjects and refrain from practical education, causing students to worry about their chances of landing good careers, Kosugi said.
Akihisa Yamazoe, who heads the overseas studies department at Mainichi Communications Inc., said it is a reasonable choice for Japanese who study Chinese to go to a Shanghai school.
Mainichi Communications has played a leading role in helping young Japanese find study opportunities in China.
"About half of Japanese students going to China choose Beijing," Yamazoe said. "Many do so for academic reasons. But if you want to find a job after studying at a Chinese university, there are more opportunities in Shanghai" due to the many Japanese companies operating there.
The number of Japanese studying in China with student visas has increased overall in recent years, according to tallies by both governments.
Although the number dropped slightly in 2005 to 18,874 from 19,059 the previous year, the level was much higher than the 12,765 in 2003.
"Having Chinese-language ability helps increase your job options in many cases, though figures that can confirm the trend are hard to come by," said Keisuke Nemoto of Pasona Inc., a major Tokyo-based manpower agency.
Students Karita and Makiya went to Shanghai during a time of bilateral diplomatic strains.
A series of anti-Japan rallies took place in Beijing, Shanghai and many other cities in April 2005 as demonstrators protested in part over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
In Shanghai, some demonstrators threw stones and other objects at Japanese restaurants and the consulate general.
Nakagawa's mother, Yoshie, 49, said she is proud her son is doing what he wants to do in China.
But she confessed, "At first, I didn't want my son to go to China, as we had seen various (anti-Japan) incidents."
Nakagawa said he sometimes has unpleasant experiences off campus. "When my friends and I were having a good time in a club, somebody who found out that I was Japanese suddenly said to me, 'I don't want to be with you,' " he said.
He said he identifies himself as a South Korean if asked his nationality by a taxi driver for fear that he might not get a ride.
"Despite that, I'm enjoying myself every day. I feel I made the right decision compared with going to a Japanese university and simply doing what everybody else is doing," Nakagawa said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070110f1.html
Takamasa Nakagawa studies Chinese at the International Cultural Exchange School at Fudan University on Dec. 22.
Carefully weighing the two options, including the then soured relations between Japan and China on his campus life, Karita nonetheless picked Shanghai.
"Having studied Chinese, I wanted to do something that could help enhance communication between people in Japan and China," Karita, 20, said. "I didn't want to find myself engaging in things many dull people at Japanese universities do, such as club activities, part-time jobs and parties."
Karita, a native of Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is among 32 students taking part in a five-year academic program jointly begun by Japanese and Chinese educational institutions in 2005.
The program, designed to provide students from Japan a good command of the Chinese language to enhance their job opportunities, is sponsored by the International Cultural Exchange School of Fudan University in Shanghai and an affiliate of Oshu Corp., a Hiroshima-based educational corporation that runs various cram schools as well as a junior high school.
Under the program, students first study basic Chinese in Hiroshima for four months starting in April. In September, they move to Fudan University, where they will spend at least three years obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Oshu dispatched 14 students in 2006. The first batch will graduate from the Shanghai school in 2010.
Zhu Yongsheng, dean of the school, said, "Through learning the Chinese language, we hope to promote mutual understanding between Chinese people and Japanese people, which is, to me, more important than learning how to speak Chinese."
Katsumi Kuwabara, who heads AIC New Zealand Ltd., an affiliate of Oshu, hopes more young Japanese will be interested in the program and become experts in Chinese.
"If you go to a handful of prestigious universities (in Japan), that means a lot. But what good are the others, especially when you major in humanities? You could get nothing" that helps you land a good job, Kuwabara said, adding that high school students and their parents are increasingly concerned about this apparent drawback.
Shuji Makiya, one of the 32 students, found it difficult to determine what he really wanted to do when he was attending an Oshu cram school as a high school senior.
He thought he might be interested in the humanities but was unsure of which specific branch and had no clue about which university to attend.
Makiya, 20, decided to go to the Shanghai school mainly because he "wanted to do something different from what others are doing."
Takamasa Nakagawa, 19, joined the program last year after thinking it would mean little if he were to attend a Japanese university like so many others.
Consultants on youth education say some Japanese teenagers study abroad for academic reasons, but many are trying to escape what they perceive as a lackluster life in Japan.
But the situation was different for students Karita, Makiya and Nakagawa, all of whom passed entrance exams for well-known universities -- Hiroshima University, Doshisha University and Meiji University. Despite that, they opted to pursue their studies abroad.
A researcher on youth employment said students in Japan are under strong pressure to "arm" themselves with unique skills to give them an advantage in the job hunt.
Chinese-language ability seems to be a bankable asset now that corporations are showing signs of improvement and looking to hire, said Reiko Kosugi, research director of the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training.
Unlike companies in many other countries, major Japanese firms usually hire a large number of full-term employees straight out of school only once a year, mostly in April. "If (fresh graduates) miss the opportunity . . . it can have a large effect on their lifetime income," Kosugi said.
But many institutions of higher learning in Japan focus too much attention on teaching academic subjects and refrain from practical education, causing students to worry about their chances of landing good careers, Kosugi said.
Akihisa Yamazoe, who heads the overseas studies department at Mainichi Communications Inc., said it is a reasonable choice for Japanese who study Chinese to go to a Shanghai school.
Mainichi Communications has played a leading role in helping young Japanese find study opportunities in China.
"About half of Japanese students going to China choose Beijing," Yamazoe said. "Many do so for academic reasons. But if you want to find a job after studying at a Chinese university, there are more opportunities in Shanghai" due to the many Japanese companies operating there.
The number of Japanese studying in China with student visas has increased overall in recent years, according to tallies by both governments.
Although the number dropped slightly in 2005 to 18,874 from 19,059 the previous year, the level was much higher than the 12,765 in 2003.
"Having Chinese-language ability helps increase your job options in many cases, though figures that can confirm the trend are hard to come by," said Keisuke Nemoto of Pasona Inc., a major Tokyo-based manpower agency.
Students Karita and Makiya went to Shanghai during a time of bilateral diplomatic strains.
A series of anti-Japan rallies took place in Beijing, Shanghai and many other cities in April 2005 as demonstrators protested in part over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
In Shanghai, some demonstrators threw stones and other objects at Japanese restaurants and the consulate general.
Nakagawa's mother, Yoshie, 49, said she is proud her son is doing what he wants to do in China.
But she confessed, "At first, I didn't want my son to go to China, as we had seen various (anti-Japan) incidents."
Nakagawa said he sometimes has unpleasant experiences off campus. "When my friends and I were having a good time in a club, somebody who found out that I was Japanese suddenly said to me, 'I don't want to be with you,' " he said.
He said he identifies himself as a South Korean if asked his nationality by a taxi driver for fear that he might not get a ride.
"Despite that, I'm enjoying myself every day. I feel I made the right decision compared with going to a Japanese university and simply doing what everybody else is doing," Nakagawa said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070110f1.html
Warnings rise over student loans
A government-affiliated organization is stepping up efforts to crack down on the rising number of graduates who are not paying off their student loans.
This fiscal year alone, the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) sent 10,473 notices to borrowers warning of legal action if they do not begin repaying their debts. The figure was 2.5 times higher than the number sent out in fiscal 2005 and more than 20 times that of fiscal 2004.
Delinquent borrowers are on the increase in part because more graduates are either unemployed or able to find only low-paying, part-time jobs.
JASSO's renewed efforts also reflect the change in its status in 2004 from a special corporation to an independent administrative agency. It now is required to balance its own books and work toward profitability.
The organization took over the work of the Japan Scholarship Foundation and several other organizations in 2004. It offers both interest-free and interest-bearing loans to students enrolled at universities, junior colleges, vocational schools and other educational institutions.
In fiscal 2005, JASSO extended about 400,000 interest-free student loans and about 580,000 interest-bearing student loans.
Those figures mean that one out of every 3.9 undergraduates at universities and junior colleges and one out of every 2.5 students in university graduate courses took out loans from the organization in fiscal 2005.
That year, 257.5 billion yen in total was due to be repaid. But as much as 56.2 billion yen, or about 20 percent, was not.
Each year, the number of people who are at least three months late in making loan payments increases. The number had risen to about 185,000 at the end of fiscal 2005.
JASSO investigated about 1,800 borrowers who had not made payments for one to two years. A little more than 20 percent, up sharply from 6.5 percent in fiscal 2001, told the organization they were unable to make payments because they were unemployed.
If the loans are unrecoverable, the organization will be unable to extend loans to new borrowers.
The number of students seeking education loans is increasing, in part because tuition fees are also climbing.
This fiscal year, JASSO is expecting to apply funds repaid on outstanding interest-free loans for about 70 percent of its planned new loans.
Delinquent borrowers could face lawsuits that could lead to property seizure, the organization has warned.
JASSO is targeting mainly nonpayers who have missed at least one year's worth of payments and who apparently have the wherewithal to repay their debts.
Many borrowers have repaid their loans after receiving the warning notices. In fiscal 2005, court-ordered property seizures occurred in only four cases.
"When taking legal steps, you should distinguish between those who cannot repay and those who do not repay even though they can," Masayuki Kobayashi, an associate professor of education at the University of Tokyo, said.
"Nonpayers with high incomes should be strictly dealt with. But on the other hand, you should take a different approach for those who are unemployed," he said.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200701090135.html
This fiscal year alone, the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) sent 10,473 notices to borrowers warning of legal action if they do not begin repaying their debts. The figure was 2.5 times higher than the number sent out in fiscal 2005 and more than 20 times that of fiscal 2004.
Delinquent borrowers are on the increase in part because more graduates are either unemployed or able to find only low-paying, part-time jobs.
JASSO's renewed efforts also reflect the change in its status in 2004 from a special corporation to an independent administrative agency. It now is required to balance its own books and work toward profitability.
The organization took over the work of the Japan Scholarship Foundation and several other organizations in 2004. It offers both interest-free and interest-bearing loans to students enrolled at universities, junior colleges, vocational schools and other educational institutions.
In fiscal 2005, JASSO extended about 400,000 interest-free student loans and about 580,000 interest-bearing student loans.
Those figures mean that one out of every 3.9 undergraduates at universities and junior colleges and one out of every 2.5 students in university graduate courses took out loans from the organization in fiscal 2005.
That year, 257.5 billion yen in total was due to be repaid. But as much as 56.2 billion yen, or about 20 percent, was not.
Each year, the number of people who are at least three months late in making loan payments increases. The number had risen to about 185,000 at the end of fiscal 2005.
JASSO investigated about 1,800 borrowers who had not made payments for one to two years. A little more than 20 percent, up sharply from 6.5 percent in fiscal 2001, told the organization they were unable to make payments because they were unemployed.
If the loans are unrecoverable, the organization will be unable to extend loans to new borrowers.
The number of students seeking education loans is increasing, in part because tuition fees are also climbing.
This fiscal year, JASSO is expecting to apply funds repaid on outstanding interest-free loans for about 70 percent of its planned new loans.
Delinquent borrowers could face lawsuits that could lead to property seizure, the organization has warned.
JASSO is targeting mainly nonpayers who have missed at least one year's worth of payments and who apparently have the wherewithal to repay their debts.
Many borrowers have repaid their loans after receiving the warning notices. In fiscal 2005, court-ordered property seizures occurred in only four cases.
"When taking legal steps, you should distinguish between those who cannot repay and those who do not repay even though they can," Masayuki Kobayashi, an associate professor of education at the University of Tokyo, said.
"Nonpayers with high incomes should be strictly dealt with. But on the other hand, you should take a different approach for those who are unemployed," he said.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200701090135.html
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Govt to help local govts handle rising immigration
The government has decided to grant special tax revenues to local governments that are facing new financial burdens due to a drastic increase of foreign residents.
The government concluded such support is necessary to help maintain public services for foreigners, such as education and life-related assistance.
It also plans during fiscal 2006 to revise the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry order regarding calculation standards of special tax revenues allocated to local governments.
The special tax is granted to local governments that have been hit financially by disaster damages or major events.
(Jan. 9, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070109TDY02005.htm
The government concluded such support is necessary to help maintain public services for foreigners, such as education and life-related assistance.
It also plans during fiscal 2006 to revise the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry order regarding calculation standards of special tax revenues allocated to local governments.
The special tax is granted to local governments that have been hit financially by disaster damages or major events.
(Jan. 9, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070109TDY02005.htm
JTB starts selling NASA space center tours for high school students
Major travel agent JTB Corp. has started selling tours taking high school students to NASA facilities where they can see space equipment up close and sit in on lectures for astronauts.
JTB's NASA Experience Tour, which is aimed at high school students, takes participants to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where they can visit space accommodation facilities, and participate in simulated experiences with the latest space technology, such as producing robot arms used for extravehicular activities.
The participants will also be taken to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to take part in lectures for astronauts.
"At a time when students are said to be shifting away from science subjects, we hope that this will be a good chance for them to become interested in work related to space," a JTB representative said.
The five-night tour, which leaves on March 21, costs 250,000 yen per person, excluding special additional fuel charges. The tour is limited to 40 people and applications end on Jan. 15.
JTB has been offering tours to NASA facilities to students at Teikyo University's Faculty of Science and Engineering since March 2005. It later decided to expand its tours to cater to high school students. (Mainichi)
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070106p2a00m0na028000c.html
JTB's NASA Experience Tour, which is aimed at high school students, takes participants to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where they can visit space accommodation facilities, and participate in simulated experiences with the latest space technology, such as producing robot arms used for extravehicular activities.
The participants will also be taken to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to take part in lectures for astronauts.
"At a time when students are said to be shifting away from science subjects, we hope that this will be a good chance for them to become interested in work related to space," a JTB representative said.
The five-night tour, which leaves on March 21, costs 250,000 yen per person, excluding special additional fuel charges. The tour is limited to 40 people and applications end on Jan. 15.
JTB has been offering tours to NASA facilities to students at Teikyo University's Faculty of Science and Engineering since March 2005. It later decided to expand its tours to cater to high school students. (Mainichi)
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070106p2a00m0na028000c.html
TOEFL proficiency sorely testing students at new college
YOKOHAMA--
For hundreds of students at a new liberal arts college faculty that opened here in spring 2005, February looms like a date with hell.
At least half the second-year students at the International College of Arts and Science at Yokohama City University may have to repeat the year because they lack English fluency.
The college's goal is to provide a practical liberal arts education by focusing on English skills. Students are expected to gain fluency, thereby giving them an edge in the post-graduation job hunt.
To move on to the next level of study, sophomores are required to score at least 500 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Otherwise, they are held back.
This goal has become a near-impossible hurdle for many students. Only half of about 740 students have cleared the requirement so far.
A 19-year-old second year student said: "I thought it was going to be no sweat when I was a freshman. But now, I am at the end of my rope--and I am feeling pretty desperate.
"Some of my friends are already resigned to repeating a year," he added.
He is not giving up, though. He spends his days cramming at the library or the audiovisual language lab, immersed in English.
TOEFL tests are administered worldwide by the Princeton, New Jersey--based Educational Testing Service. The tests, first administered in 1964, are now taken by about 800,000 people around the world each year.
More than 5,000 universities use the test to measure basic language skills in reading, listening, speaking and writing as part of their admission screenings and other purposes.
While Internet-based TOEFL tests (iBT) are available, the Yokohama City University uses only the TOEFL-ITP, a paper-based test administered for big groups. The highest score is 677.
Another assessment tool, the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC, was first used in 1979. TOEIC evaluates communication skills. Its highest score is 990. About 4.5 million people worldwide, including 1.5 million in Japan, take the TOEIC each year.
About 2,600 companies and schools in Japan use TOEIC results in recruiting and for school admissions.
At the Yokohama International College of Arts and Sciences, students who present a TOEIC score of 600 or above, or pass the pre-level 1 in the English Language Proficiency (STEP, or Eiken) test, are also allowed to go on to their third year.
Yet, of the 740 second year students who would constitute the college's first graduating class in spring 2009, only 357 had passed the English benchmark as of early December.
The college in the city's Kanazawa Ward was created in 2005 through a merger of three of the university's departments: Business, International Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The aim is to groom "cosmopolitan, well-rounded individuals" with international communication skills. The school's TOEFL 500 goal has been widely promoted, symbolizing a commitment to providing a comprehensive English education within Japan.
With much of the student body falling short of the fluency goal, college administrators are perplexed. At this rate, it seems inevitable that many students will be kept back until they attain greater fluency in English.
The school fears its reputation would suffer, causing future enrollment to plummet, if it relaxed its criteria.
For this reason, the school offered 67.5 hours in a two-week intensive English workshop over the summer.
"A TOEFL score of 500 is just the starting point for students who hope to succeed in a specialized field at the university level. We cannot afford to ease our standards," said Tsuguo Fujino, dean of the International College of Arts and Sciences.
(IHT/Asahi: January 4,2007)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200701040113.html
For hundreds of students at a new liberal arts college faculty that opened here in spring 2005, February looms like a date with hell.
At least half the second-year students at the International College of Arts and Science at Yokohama City University may have to repeat the year because they lack English fluency.
The college's goal is to provide a practical liberal arts education by focusing on English skills. Students are expected to gain fluency, thereby giving them an edge in the post-graduation job hunt.
To move on to the next level of study, sophomores are required to score at least 500 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Otherwise, they are held back.
This goal has become a near-impossible hurdle for many students. Only half of about 740 students have cleared the requirement so far.
A 19-year-old second year student said: "I thought it was going to be no sweat when I was a freshman. But now, I am at the end of my rope--and I am feeling pretty desperate.
"Some of my friends are already resigned to repeating a year," he added.
He is not giving up, though. He spends his days cramming at the library or the audiovisual language lab, immersed in English.
TOEFL tests are administered worldwide by the Princeton, New Jersey--based Educational Testing Service. The tests, first administered in 1964, are now taken by about 800,000 people around the world each year.
More than 5,000 universities use the test to measure basic language skills in reading, listening, speaking and writing as part of their admission screenings and other purposes.
While Internet-based TOEFL tests (iBT) are available, the Yokohama City University uses only the TOEFL-ITP, a paper-based test administered for big groups. The highest score is 677.
Another assessment tool, the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC, was first used in 1979. TOEIC evaluates communication skills. Its highest score is 990. About 4.5 million people worldwide, including 1.5 million in Japan, take the TOEIC each year.
About 2,600 companies and schools in Japan use TOEIC results in recruiting and for school admissions.
At the Yokohama International College of Arts and Sciences, students who present a TOEIC score of 600 or above, or pass the pre-level 1 in the English Language Proficiency (STEP, or Eiken) test, are also allowed to go on to their third year.
Yet, of the 740 second year students who would constitute the college's first graduating class in spring 2009, only 357 had passed the English benchmark as of early December.
The college in the city's Kanazawa Ward was created in 2005 through a merger of three of the university's departments: Business, International Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The aim is to groom "cosmopolitan, well-rounded individuals" with international communication skills. The school's TOEFL 500 goal has been widely promoted, symbolizing a commitment to providing a comprehensive English education within Japan.
With much of the student body falling short of the fluency goal, college administrators are perplexed. At this rate, it seems inevitable that many students will be kept back until they attain greater fluency in English.
The school fears its reputation would suffer, causing future enrollment to plummet, if it relaxed its criteria.
For this reason, the school offered 67.5 hours in a two-week intensive English workshop over the summer.
"A TOEFL score of 500 is just the starting point for students who hope to succeed in a specialized field at the university level. We cannot afford to ease our standards," said Tsuguo Fujino, dean of the International College of Arts and Sciences.
(IHT/Asahi: January 4,2007)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200701040113.html
Asia/ Businessman's school turns out tough Chinese managers
WUHAN, China--
In a classroom at a management school in this city in Hubei province, the instructor asked the 16 students what kind of jobs they aspired to gain.
One student spoke on at length for nearly five minutes.
His professor, Japanese businessman Sadahisa Sugiyama, replied with thinly veiled exasperation. "You're still talking too much and wandering far from the point. A person who cannot change himself cannot become a leader recognized by other people," he said.
The blunt criticism, made through an interpreter, was meant to convey to the student that he had to change his style of communicating if he really wants to get ahead in life.
"Don't make me tell you the same thing over and over," Sugiyama added in warning.
Sugiyama, 63, president of Minami Fuji Sangyo Co., a construction firm in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, established the Global Management College (GMC), last year.
The school's raison d'etre is to train Chinese students hoping to work for the subsidiaries of Japanese companies in China. The course for shaping future international executives is gathering growing attention both in Japan and China.
The school last year had more than 10,000 applicants for entry in its six-month course. While about 150 students have attended GMC so far, less than 50 have completed the tough program and moved on to jobs at Japanese companies struggling to compete in the expanding Chinese market.
The 16 students listening to Sugiyama on this day are senior students at Wuhan University (WHU) or other schools. They heard about GMC through the Internet or word of mouth. They are the cream of about 3,000 applicants for this term, accepted after filling out detailed applications and passing three interviews.
Sugiyama formed ties with WHU by offering scholarships to its students.
He started out in the Chinese education system as a visiting professor in business at WHU. It didn't take long for him to realize that bright, young Chinese seldom have opportunities to form contacts with the Japanese companies that are looking to hire them.
GMC began its intensive management training course in July 2005.
Sugiyama, busy as president of Minami Fuji Sangyo, can only find time to teach in China about 10 days a month. The rest of the school's lecturers are other employees of his company, who hold weekly classes at the GMC building near the WHU campus.
The program operates like a seminar class at Japanese universities, in that the students are assigned a problem and told to devise a method of solving it.
In addition, students do field work, such as market research commissioned by Japanese companies. In such projects, students form a team and use methods they have devised in class.
It is a difficult assignment, and more than two-thirds of the initial enrollees have dropped out. Forty-four of the 45 successful graduates were hired by subsidiaries of Japanese companies, however.
In July this year, GMC began its fifth semester in Wuhan. It also now offers similar lectures in Beijing, Xian and Guangzhou.
One unusual aspect of the course is that it does not cost the students any money. GMC instead relies on contributions of 5 million yen to 10 million yen per student from the Japanese companies that are eager to hire qualified GMC graduates.
That amount seems exorbitant, given the low cost of living in China. GMC officials respond that it's peanuts compared to the cost of finding qualified workers among university graduates in Japan.
Zhang Kai, 22, was one of the graduates of GMC's first semester. He graduated from the WHU Business School this past summer and now works for a Japanese material manufacturer's subsidiary in Hangzhou, near Shanghai.
In fact, Zhang has been a vice president at the firm since December 2005, when he was still a student at WHU. He oversees 120 employees.
Several years ago, the Japanese firm set up its Chinese subsidiary in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, at the urging of many of its Japanese clients. They were moving some of their operations from Japan to China, and needed reliable suppliers.
At first, the materials company was unfamiliar with Chinese business practices, which led to a serious problem with low morale among its Chinese workers. The subsidiary began losing money.
The president consulted Sugiyama, who said what the company needed was a management and efficiency expert. He introduced Zhang, describing the student as a "person who could see the entire situation."
At the same time, Sugiyama also demanded the firm give Zhang the power to make decisions and implement them. Without that, he would be impotent in his ability to solve their staffing problems, Sugiyama pointed out.
The firm acquiesced, and Zhang was appointed as a vice president.
The first thing Zhang did was to talk with every employee and initiate a workplace clean up inside the factory. He itemized wasteful practices and began eliminating them. As a result, the subsidiary expects to turn a profit within a year of his joining the company.
Sugiyama is succeeding because he knows that Japanese companies opening operations in China need capable factory managers and sales promotion executives who are familiar with local business practices. Most Japanese firms, however, do not have much experience in hiring Chinese white-collar workers.
Some have been disappointed after hiring Chinese employees who have not lived up to the educational backgrounds and working experience cited on their resumes.
GMC graduates, on the other hand, come with a personal recommendation from Sugiyama.
Kawamura Electric Inc., a switchboard manufacturer based in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, had trouble finding the right people for the job in China. It used to hire only Chinese students who had studied in Japan, but this year, the company plans to hire four GMC graduates.
"The four are strongly motivated and are unlikely to disappoint us. We couldn't decide among them, so we hired more than we had planned," said Yukitoshi Kawamura, the company's president.
(IHT/Asahi: December 27,2006)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200612270127.html
In a classroom at a management school in this city in Hubei province, the instructor asked the 16 students what kind of jobs they aspired to gain.
One student spoke on at length for nearly five minutes.
His professor, Japanese businessman Sadahisa Sugiyama, replied with thinly veiled exasperation. "You're still talking too much and wandering far from the point. A person who cannot change himself cannot become a leader recognized by other people," he said.
The blunt criticism, made through an interpreter, was meant to convey to the student that he had to change his style of communicating if he really wants to get ahead in life.
"Don't make me tell you the same thing over and over," Sugiyama added in warning.
Sugiyama, 63, president of Minami Fuji Sangyo Co., a construction firm in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, established the Global Management College (GMC), last year.
The school's raison d'etre is to train Chinese students hoping to work for the subsidiaries of Japanese companies in China. The course for shaping future international executives is gathering growing attention both in Japan and China.
The school last year had more than 10,000 applicants for entry in its six-month course. While about 150 students have attended GMC so far, less than 50 have completed the tough program and moved on to jobs at Japanese companies struggling to compete in the expanding Chinese market.
The 16 students listening to Sugiyama on this day are senior students at Wuhan University (WHU) or other schools. They heard about GMC through the Internet or word of mouth. They are the cream of about 3,000 applicants for this term, accepted after filling out detailed applications and passing three interviews.
Sugiyama formed ties with WHU by offering scholarships to its students.
He started out in the Chinese education system as a visiting professor in business at WHU. It didn't take long for him to realize that bright, young Chinese seldom have opportunities to form contacts with the Japanese companies that are looking to hire them.
GMC began its intensive management training course in July 2005.
Sugiyama, busy as president of Minami Fuji Sangyo, can only find time to teach in China about 10 days a month. The rest of the school's lecturers are other employees of his company, who hold weekly classes at the GMC building near the WHU campus.
The program operates like a seminar class at Japanese universities, in that the students are assigned a problem and told to devise a method of solving it.
In addition, students do field work, such as market research commissioned by Japanese companies. In such projects, students form a team and use methods they have devised in class.
It is a difficult assignment, and more than two-thirds of the initial enrollees have dropped out. Forty-four of the 45 successful graduates were hired by subsidiaries of Japanese companies, however.
In July this year, GMC began its fifth semester in Wuhan. It also now offers similar lectures in Beijing, Xian and Guangzhou.
One unusual aspect of the course is that it does not cost the students any money. GMC instead relies on contributions of 5 million yen to 10 million yen per student from the Japanese companies that are eager to hire qualified GMC graduates.
That amount seems exorbitant, given the low cost of living in China. GMC officials respond that it's peanuts compared to the cost of finding qualified workers among university graduates in Japan.
Zhang Kai, 22, was one of the graduates of GMC's first semester. He graduated from the WHU Business School this past summer and now works for a Japanese material manufacturer's subsidiary in Hangzhou, near Shanghai.
In fact, Zhang has been a vice president at the firm since December 2005, when he was still a student at WHU. He oversees 120 employees.
Several years ago, the Japanese firm set up its Chinese subsidiary in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, at the urging of many of its Japanese clients. They were moving some of their operations from Japan to China, and needed reliable suppliers.
At first, the materials company was unfamiliar with Chinese business practices, which led to a serious problem with low morale among its Chinese workers. The subsidiary began losing money.
The president consulted Sugiyama, who said what the company needed was a management and efficiency expert. He introduced Zhang, describing the student as a "person who could see the entire situation."
At the same time, Sugiyama also demanded the firm give Zhang the power to make decisions and implement them. Without that, he would be impotent in his ability to solve their staffing problems, Sugiyama pointed out.
The firm acquiesced, and Zhang was appointed as a vice president.
The first thing Zhang did was to talk with every employee and initiate a workplace clean up inside the factory. He itemized wasteful practices and began eliminating them. As a result, the subsidiary expects to turn a profit within a year of his joining the company.
Sugiyama is succeeding because he knows that Japanese companies opening operations in China need capable factory managers and sales promotion executives who are familiar with local business practices. Most Japanese firms, however, do not have much experience in hiring Chinese white-collar workers.
Some have been disappointed after hiring Chinese employees who have not lived up to the educational backgrounds and working experience cited on their resumes.
GMC graduates, on the other hand, come with a personal recommendation from Sugiyama.
Kawamura Electric Inc., a switchboard manufacturer based in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, had trouble finding the right people for the job in China. It used to hire only Chinese students who had studied in Japan, but this year, the company plans to hire four GMC graduates.
"The four are strongly motivated and are unlikely to disappoint us. We couldn't decide among them, so we hired more than we had planned," said Yukitoshi Kawamura, the company's president.
(IHT/Asahi: December 27,2006)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200612270127.html
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