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PART Issues and Perspectives ofHigher Education

2 Higher Education after World War

Since the inauguration of new-system universities, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has been taking various measures to further develop and improve the higher education system. These measures are outlined below.

(1) Improvement of the undergraduate system

In the early years of the development of new-system universities, in approving the establishment of a university. the Ministry used, as criteria for its approval, "Standards for Accrediting Universities" which the University Accreditation Association set forth as criteria for judging whether a particular institution is entitled to become a member of the Association. These standards, however, had not been intended to serve as criteria for approving a new university, and they were not sufficiently specific to serve as such. Therefore, in 1956 the Ministry enacted Standards for the Establishment of Universities in the form of a Ministry order. They provided for minimum standards for the establishment of universities with regard to the structure of the academic staff, teaching subjects, university sites, buildings, equipment, etc. Since then, the Ministry has been approving the establishment of universities in accordance with these standards.

Since 1970, when student unrest at universities began to calm down, the Ministry has from time to time taken various measures to enable individual universities to make the university structure more flexible so as to enable individual universities to carry out relevant reforms on their own initiative in response to a variety of demands from society. For example, in 1970 the Ministry gave more flexibility to the organization of the general education curriculum at universities in 1972 the Ministry created arrangements for credit transfers between universities (and in 1982 these arrangements were extended to credit transfers between universities and junior colleges) in 1973 the Ministry helped make the educational and research structure of universities more flexible, for example, by allowing universities to set up new types of basic educational and research units other than the faculty (e.g.. college clusters and research institutes were created at the University of Tsukuba); in 1976 the Ministry authorized universities to admit students (or to allow students to graduate from a university) at the beginning (or the end) of a school term, rather than at the beginning (or the end) of an academic year: and in 1985 the Ministry gave more flexibility to the qualification of university teachers so as to enable universities to appoint working people from other sectors as university teachers.

While at the early stage of the development of the post-war university system, the Ministry had utilized. as its criteria for approving new graduate schools. The "Graduate School Standards" developed by the University Accreditation Association. in 1974 the Ministry enacted "Standards for the Establishment of Graduate Schools" in the form of a Ministry order.

Regarding graduate schools. as well as regarding undergraduate departments, the Ministry has taken relevant measures for making their educational and research structures more flexible, with a view to coping flexibly with rapid changes in society. as well as with the progress of science. For example, the prevalent idea in the early post-war period was that graduate schools were aimed at the development of researchers in different academic disciplines or university teachers. A new function of developing high-level professional competencies was added in 1955 to the objectives of the master's degree course and in 1989 to those of the doctor's degree course. Further, while it had been a traditional practice to set up a graduate school on the basis of undergraduate departments. in 1976 the Ministry allowed universities to set up postgraduate departments on the basis of research institutes, rather than undergraduate departments. It also made it possible to set up an independent graduate school (or "graduate university") which has no undergraduate departments as its foundation. In 1989, the Ministry enabled universities to allow some students to complete a master's degree course in one year. taking account of their academic performance. It also has taken some other measures to give more flexibility to the qualification for entrance to postgraduate courses, the qualification of university teachers, and so forth.

The junior college system was introduced as a provisional one in 1949. During subsequent years, however, institutions of this type developed in a unique way, primarily as institutions for women, and came to play an important role in the whole higher education system in this country. For this reason there was growing, in various sectors of society, the demand for making the junior college system a permanent one with distinctive aims and characteristics, and thus for giving junior colleges a definite regular position in the whole formal education system. On the other hand, the Central Council for Education and other groups advocated the necessity of setting up five-year institutions aiming at training semi-professional workers through five-year consistent courses of the combined upper secondary and junior college levels. As a result, in 1958 a bill for inaugurating specialized colleges was submitted to the Diet. The bill specified that the system of junior colleges be a permanent one and that both junior colleges and five-year institutions for semi-professional training be categorized as "specialized colleges". The bill, however,failed to pass the Diet. In 1962 there was created a separate system of five-year colleges of technology primarily offering technical training in engineering. Further, in response to the strong aspiration of junior college people, in 1974 the provisions regarding universities in the School Education Law were partially amended, and definite provisions specifying the aims and duration of the junior college were incorporated. Thus the junior college system became a permanent one.

Until 1975, all educational institutions providing "education similar to formal education available in schools, colleges and universities" in such subjects as accounting, dressmaking and electric techniques had been defined as "miscellaneous schools." There were a great variety of miscellaneous schools in terms of the school size and the level of education provided.

In 1975, with a view to promoting these schools, the School Education Law was partially amended to introduce a new category of "special training schools." Those miscellaneous schools of a certain size and of optimum standards were to be designated as special training schools.

Some special training schools offer advanced courses admitting upper secondary school graduates. These courses have been developing mainly in urban areas and have contributed to the diversification of higher education in Japan. They have also been responding to diverse demands from society as distinctive specialized educational institutions aiming at helping students develop the capabilities required for vocational and daily life or helping them raise their own cultural level.