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CHAPTER 2 IMPROVEMENT OF CONTENT OF- EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENTOF ABILITY
9 Admission Procedures to University
(1) Admission Procedures to University


Selection for university entrance in Japan is based on the results of entrance examinations given by the individual universities.

Scholastic achievement tests have been employed in combination with academic subject-matter examination for a short time after the close of the Second World War.

At present, however, the selection depends solely upon the result of written subject-matter examinations administered by the individual universities once each year. This system of admission, coupled with a definite restriction on the number of students who may be admitted to each faculty or department of each university, denies admission to any university for many students, including many with adequate qualifications and adequate secondary school records.

University graduation is considered in Japan as an absolute requirement for desirable employment; while graduation from one of the few "prestige" universities is considered as the equivalent of a guarantee of economic success. Consequently competition for admission to a university is so keen as to be, all too often, actually desperate.

The selection procedures employed by five selected countries which have a typical system of selection will be studied in the followings:

United States of America

Admission procedures practiced in the U.S.A. varies from college to college, but it can be divided into three major categories:

l) Selection based on entrance examinations administered by each college or university.

2) Selection based on scores on tests administered by the College Entrance Examination Board throughout the nation, supplementary to the student's academic records for the secondary school years.

3) Selection based on a combination of the number of credits acquired in secondary schools and the record of grades earned in the secondary schools.

Only very few universities employ the first type of admission procedure, that is, by administering their own entrance examinations.

Some state universities and most of the private universities employ the second type of admission procedure. About half of 2,000 universities and colleges in the U.S.A. employs it, and the number of such institutions is increasing. The College Entrance Examination Board offers the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and subject-matter Achievement Tests. There are many universities which require only the Scholastic Aptitude Test as admission requirement. The College Entrance Examination Board offers its tests five times each year at 1,400 centers throughout the nation. Applicants can sit for the tests at any center.

A large number of safe universities and some private universities employ the third type of procedure. In many States, all residents who are graduates of accredited high schools within the State are automatically eligible for admission to a State college or university.

Other than those procedures, the State of California established a special type of admission .procedure to meet the increased demand for higher education and to provide courses suitable to the different academic abilities and aptitudes of each candidate. The functions of public higher education institution such as the University of California with graduate course, all state colleges and junior colleges were defined clearly, and according to their definite functions each institution has established its own admission requirements. The University of California limits freshman admissions to the upper twelve and one-half per cent of the high school graduate; The state colleges limit their admissions to the upper thirty-three percent of high school graduates. All high school graduates may enter a junior college, and are able to transfer to time University of California or t6 a state college if they obtain satisfactory records in the junior college.

United Kingdom

Admission to the universities in the United Kingdom is based on successful completion of the examination for the General Certificate of Education. The examination of the General Certificate of Education is conducted by nine independent examination bodies accredited by the Minister of Education. The General Certificate of Education is given by subjects and each examination is set at two levels, "Ordinary" and "Advanced". Applicants take the examination in the subjects and of the level required by the entrance requirements of the university which they desire to enter. The "ordinary" level papers are most usually taken at the end of a five-year course in a secondary school (16 years of age), and the "advanced" level papers after a further one or two years of study.

Federal Republic of Germany

Admission to university in the Federal Republic of Germany depends on the result of the final examination of academic secondary education called "Abitur". This examination is administered by each high school(Gymnasium) accredited by the Ministries of Education in each State(Lander). Abitur is an examination for the secondary school diploma and serves also for university matriculation.

Recently, another method of admission to university has been developed aiming at equal opportunity for education and the development and training of human resources. Students who enter the vocational secondary schools after finishing the primary or intermediate schools and who maintains excellent performance were recently allowed to proceed to universities accredited by the State Ministry of Education. This way if access to higher education is designated as "the second way to higher education (Der zweite Weg)"supplementing the major course to the university through Gymnasiums.

France

In France, admission to a university is mainly based on the results of performance in the Baccalaureate examination administered by the State at the end of 7th grade of the long academic courses of the Lycee. The holders of the Baccalaureat have the right of direct access to university in his choice. However as a result of the recent increase in the number of bachelier (holders of Baccalaureate), it is planned to control bachliers eligible to universities on their Baccalaureate examination results. The candidates for the grandes ecoles, the high prestige colleges, in France will be required to sit for the entrance examinations administered by the individual colleges. As they are strictly competitive, candidates should prepare for them by studying for two or three years at the special preparatory courses attached to some of lycees. Baccalaureate examinations have consisted of two parts held at the ends of 6th grade and 7th grade of academic secondary schools respectively. Part one was eliminated in 1962.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republic

Universities of the U.S.S.R. administer their own entrance examinations, as in Japan. Those who have fulfilled 3 years' compulsory employment after they have graduated from specialized secondary schools (Srednoe profes-sionarinoe uchebnoe zaredenie) have the right to make application for universities as well as those who have finished general primary and secondary education of ten years. Different from the other countries, priority of admission to the universities is given to those who have engaged in some work before the application.

The main items concerning the selection procedure and the requirements for university entrance in a Japan and in six other selected countries are shown at

Table 36

.

Table 36. Most Common Selection Methods and Subjects or Examinations for University Entrance in Six Selected Countries


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