Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture1999 > Part2 Q2 |
A:We do.We are taking a variety of measures to make national universities more open to local people.
National universities play a major role in train-ing personnel and carrying out scientific re-search that supports social and economic devel-opment.In addition,they are expected to play an important role in the lifelong learning society,such as in the expansion of learning opportuniti-es for communities.In view of the importance of national universities,they are operated with government funding,as well as with tuition fees.However,there is still a strong impression that national universities are closed off.In order for them to truly become"universities open to the community,"it is imperative that they gain people's understanding of the education and research they carry out and open their functions and facilities to communities.To this end,many universities are taking measures such as the ones described below.
University Extension Courses |
University extension courses provide extensive learning opportunities for adults to acquire knowledge and skills for daily life and work or a wide range of practical education by offering the educational functions of universities and other institutions to the community.They are highly significant as a lifelong learning opportunity in the community.They also provide universities with a platform for disclosing information on the kind of research and education for students with the comprehen-sive functions for education and research.
Examples of Courses |
Special Community Access Projects at Uni-versities and Other Institutions(UniversityChild Access Plan) |
From FY1999,as part of the National Children's Plan(Emergency Three Year Strategy),institu-tions of higher education,including universities,have provided access to their educational func-tions and facilities to children and communities on Saturdays,which are school holidays.These institutions are working to provide a range of opportunities for directly experiencing and ob-serving activities which are not part of daily life,such as observing superconductor experiments and astronomy using state-of-the-art facilities,hands-on agricultural activities at university farms and experimental plantations,and sailing on training ships.
In addition,many national universities are taking active measures to provide access to their sports facilities so that local people can enjoy sports activities as part of their everyday life.
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