Today there is an unprecedented increase in the public's demand
for lifelong learning, due to a variety of factors, including: the aging of the
population; an increase in people's leisure time as a result of reduced working
hours; the necessity for the continuous learning of vocational knowledge and
skills in the context of accelerated technological innovations; and an increase
in people's desire to acquire knowledge, as a result of the spread of information
media.
In the coming years the structure of the educational system
in Japan will gradually be adapted to the needs of lifelong learning. There is
a growing expectation that the higher education system will positively accept
adult citizens, by making the modes of learning more diverse and more flexible
so as to adapt them to the needs of working adults, by innovating curricula and
teaching methods, by providing engineers and researchers with an opportunity
to acquire professional knowledge and techniques, and by offering adults continuing
education programs.
Chapter3 5
Issues and Perspectives ofHigher Education