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PART Issues and Perspectives ofHigher Education

Today, as a result of the quantitative development of higher education, university entrance examinations affect not merely a relatively small number of upper secondary school students. The system and practices of university entrance examinations have had a great impact on the whole education system, not only on upper secondary schools. It has been pointed out that so far university entrance examinations have tended to cause undue competition for university admission where excessive emphasis is placed on the "standard deviation value" of students' scores on standardized tests.

For this reason, it is important for all universities, both public and private, to strive to further diversify the content and methods of entrance examinations. Each university is expected to continue its efforts to improve its own selection procedures with a view to assessing diverse abilities and aptitudes of applicants by means of combining various assessment data, such as school reports, interviews, essay tests and practical skills tests. The results of scholastic achievement tests should not be excessively emphasized. It is also important for more universities to select a certain number of students merely on the recommendation of the upper secondary school principal, and to reserve a certain number of special places for returnees from abroad and for working adults. With a view to promoting such improvements, it is expected that the NCUEE examination should be successfully carried out and take root in this country and that this examination should be used by a greater number of private universities.

With regard to allowing students to apply to two or more national or local public universities, universities have been requested to continue their positive efforts to improve their selection procedures, by adopting the Separation and Dividing Pattern for entrance examination schedule, and by some other appropriate means.

In order to improve procedures for selecting entrants, it is important for individual universities to carry out positive studies on entrance examinations and utilize their findings in the improvement of selection procedures. To this end, it is essential to help individual universities conduct follow-up studies of the academic performance of entrants through reinforcing their staff in charge of entrance examinations, and to help the National Center for University Entrance Examination strengthen its research programs regarding entrance examinations.

As competition for university entrance has become more severe involving more and more students, a vast volume of information regarding entrance examinations has now been processed by computer. In these circumstances, too much emphasis has tended to be placed on the "standard deviation value" of students' scores on standardized tests in determining which university they should choose. As a result, it has been pointed out by many people that there are a lot of students who have been compelled to choose and enter a university other than one which they originally wished to enter and that the ranking of universities according to the level of scholastic achievement of incoming students has been more explicit. Therefore, upper secondary schools need to improve and enrich educational guidance services, whereby students can improve their ability to choose their own future courses by themselves, and whereby due regard is paid to the abilities, aptitudes and aspirations of individuals.

In this connection, individual upper secondary schools, as well as university applicants with diverse abilities, aptitudes and interests, need to be adequately provided with relevant information about the educational and research programs of individual universities, information regarding the entrance examination of each university, and such other university information as may be useful for individual applicants in choosing the right university or the right course for themselves.

In order to meet this necessity, it is very important for the National Center for University Entrance Examination to strive to improve and expand a HEART system (Higher Education Articulation support system) using a CAPTAIN (Character and Pattern Telephone Access Information Network) system. (See below) It is also important for individual universities to strive to increase and improve the provision of such accurate and high-quality information about themselves as may meet the needs of upper secondary school students, through organizing meetings where university authorities give useful information about each university to upper secondary school students and meetings where university authorities meet together and discuss with upper secondary school principals and teachers, and through producing video programs which present an outline of each university.

Outline of the HEART System

The improvement of the procedures for the selection of university entrants is one of the major issues of the current educational reform. In order to ensure the improvement of selection procedures, it is essential to secure active efforts and mutual cooperation among educators working at national, local public and private universities and upper secondary schools, and other people in various sectors.

It is said that in recent years with regard to the level of lifetime income and the speed of promotion of workers in enterprises, the difference among workers of different levels of educational attainment has been decreasing. In general, however, people still tend to place much emphasis on the educational background of individuals and on the value of prestigious universities. It is said that behind this attitude there is the fact that some enterprises recruit new employees mainly from among new graduates from a limited number of prestigious and other universities. It can be added that competition in entrance examinations has become more severe partly because it is almost a sole route in practice to enter university by taking entrance examinations at the end of upper secondary school, and neither university admissions of working adults nor transfers of students between different universities are so easy.

In these circumstances, in order to mitigate excessive competition in entrance examinations, it is necessary to take comprehensive measures, including the improvement and enrichment of educational guidance (for helping students choose an appropriate university to go on to) in upper secondary schools and the development of the unique and diverse features of individual universities. It is also necessary for not only the education sector but also all other sectors of society to cooperate in correcting the social climate where undue emphasis is placed on the educational background of individuals and on the value of prestigious universities.

For this reason, universities are required to promote further development of the unique and diverse features of each institution, taking advantage of their own educational principles and traditions. They also need to plan and implement such measures as increasing special places for working adults and reserving a certain number of places for students transferring from other universities so as to facilitate the transfer of students between different universities and faculties. It is also necessary for universities to ask industrial firms to further strive to ensure an assessment of diverse abilities of individuals in hiring new employees and in promoting employees to senior posts.

University entrance examinations exert a great influence not only on the higher education system but also on the whole education system below higher education. For this reason, the improvement of these entrance examinations is an important issue requiring education authorities to make constant efforts in seeking better solutions. It is necessary for education authorities to always give full consideration to the standpoints of university applicants in implementing a particular reform and to spend a long time on preparation before putting it into practice. With this recognition as a base, it is necessary to seek and pursue medium- and long-term strategies for the improvement of entrance examinations.

For this reason, the University Council is now considering basic concepts and directions for the improvement of university entrance examinations with medium- and long-term perspectives. In addition, the Central Council for Education is also considering the issue of university entrance examinations from the angle of ensuring better articulation between upper secondary and higher education.