University of Tokyo has int'l competition in sights with shift to autumn start

The University of Tokyo's recent decision to shift the start of the school year from the spring to the autumn -- in line with most school systems in the West -- is a sure signal that Japan's most prestigious academic institution is deeply worried about being on the losing end of increasing international competition among universities. Furthermore, the move by Todai -- as the University of Tokyo is popularly known -- is putting pressure on other Japanese schools to follow suit.

If Todai goes ahead with the current proposal, entrance exams will continue to be held in the spring while in five years the start of classes will be moved to the autumn, opening a six-month gap between acceptance and actual entry into the university. What students are to do with this half-year is one major challenge that must be dealt with before the new system goes into effect, while the shift in the school year may also have a serious impact on both new graduate hiring by companies and on high school education.

"Amid severe international competition, we call on this school to move speedily and without hesitation to consider this recommendation and to act," reads the final proposal by a Todai panel set up to study the school year shift, the text amplifying the university's sense of crisis and fear of falling behind other top schools across the globe.

The 2011-2012 Times Higher Education World University Rankings released in October last year had MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Oxford at the pinnacle of its top 400 -- all U.S. and British schools. Todai could boast it was pegged highest among Japanese institutions, but still came in well down the list at No. 30, sandwiched between the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Todai sees any climb up the rankings ladder as dependent both on attracting more foreign students and faculty.

Furthermore, as of May 2011, there were just 53 undergraduate and 286 graduate Todai students studying overseas -- just 0.4 percent and 2.1 percent of total enrolment, respectively. The panel proposal says one reason for the low numbers is "the differences in entrance dates and school terms" between Todai and foreign host institutions. As such, the panel recommended keeping entrance exams at the same time of year as they are now, while moving the start of the school year entirely to the autumn to match the schedules of institutions outside Japan. Furthermore, the proposal recommends the "gap time" between the exams and actual entrance to the university be used by newly admitted students to get some international or volunteer experience.

Japanese universities used to begin their school years in September, but shifted to an April start in 1921 to match the fiscal year. As internationalization has proceeded apace, however, a return to a September start gained more appeal, and in 2007 a government committee on education reform recommended making a strong push to do just that. According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, as of the 2009 school year there were 245 universities that allowed undergraduate students to enter at times other than April. Most of these, however, did so mainly for students returning to Japan after living or studying abroad, and no universities had moved entirely to an autumn entrance system.

Japan's major schools are, however, keeping close tabs on Todai's moves. For instance, on Jan. 18 Kyushu University President Setsuo Arikawa announced he planned to set up a committee to study shifting the school year's start to the autumn. Kyoto University has also stated it will "consider the state of school terms and entrance exams," while Waseda University has said it will "continue with discussions on how autumn entrance should be implemented."

Meanwhile Atsushi Seike, head of Keio University, told the Mainichi, "Regarding autumn entrance, the university community in Japan should consider how to proceed as a whole."

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/news/20120119p2a00m0na019000c.html