Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2001 >Chapter3 Section3.2

Under the situation that almost all lower secondary students advance to an upper secondary school, there is a call to make secondary education versatile and individually targeted in response to diversifying the ability and interest of students.

  Unified lower and upper secondary school education systems, that were added to the traditional non-unified system, offer a consistent curriculum and educational environment for six years and broadens options for children and parents. This new system has been institutionalized since April 1999 to further diversify secondary education and to realize education emphasizing the individuality of each student.

In order to realize the aim of a unified education system, MEXT has encouraged a unified lower and upper secondary school education system with the near-term target of at least one such school in every upper secondary school zone from the standpoint of providing an educational system in which a range of individuality and ability of students can be brought up to the maximum extent (keeping in mind the purpose of the unified system described above)

  Only four schools adopted a unified lower and upper secondary system in FY1999, but the number of such schools increased to 51 as of FY2001. The creation of 36 schools with the unified system in and after FY2002 has been already announced, and there are other projects under consideration to introduce the new system.

As Educational Reform progresses, every upper secondary school and university is becoming more diverse and unique than in the past. Along with this, the increasing advancement rate has made ability and academic history of newly-enrolled university students more diverse.

  In response, the School Education Law was revised in July 2001 in order to facilitate individually targeted education. More specifically, the coverage of early university entrance allowing 17-year olds and above to enter a university was expanded from mathematics and physics to any field that an entrant stood out in. This revision is scheduled to take effect in April 2002. A university, in order to permit early entrance, has to meet the following requirements: a) the university has a graduate school for a field in which early entrance is permitted; and b) the university has educational or research achievements and an instructional system suitable for nurturing students who excel in that field.

  Amid growing diversity in the roles of secondary schools and universities, appropriate and mutual selection between a student and university has become a guiding principle in university entrance when we aim at the smooth transition of secondary school students to university education.

  In order to put this basic principle into practice, universities have set admission policies in accordance with their objectives, features and each department's specialty fields. They have also introduced various methods and criteria such as interviews, essays, listening tests, admission upon recommendation, and special selection methods for adult students, children returning from overseas and graduates of specialized upper secondary schools or integrated courses. With these, ability and qualification of examinees are evaluated more multidimensionally.

  In entrant selection of FY2001, 207 public and private universities carried out an Admission Office (AO) entrance examination, which has been introduced by more and more universities. Eight universities among them are public, and the number of public universities that will adopt an AO examination has doubled to 16 in FY2002. The AO examination does not place a disproportionate emphasis on academic ability evaluation, and has the following features:

  On the other hand, upper secondary schools have provided their students with opportunities to take university courses in a particular subject they have a strong interest in as special register students or audit students, and have invited university teaching staff who introduce a university or give a lecture, as abilities, qualifications, interests and future careers of upper secondary students become more diversified. These efforts facilitate upper secondary school teachers to account for their student's future courses in giving course and career guidance. Since FY1998, upper secondary schools have been allowed to give credits for courses as a special register student, special non-degree student or audit student at a university as well as university extension courses.

  An upper secondary school is expected to offer actively opportunities of university-level education to its students by utilizing systems as described above and by further cooperating with universities.

If a university seeks to raise the next generation leader who can take a position of leadership as a professional amid the structural change of the Japanese economy and global competition, it has to give its students opportunities where they can acquire a broad range of general knowledge and advanced expertise. From this standpoint, the MEXT has promoted the expansion of graduate schools. Currently, particular emphasis is placed on strengthening educational and research bases of universities and graduate schools to cultivate future leaders. In addition, the School Education Law was revised in July 2001 and other measures have been taken to facilitate graduate school admission of students who complete their junior year, students of other universities and working adults.

  Moreover, master's degree courses specializing in practical education to raise advanced expertise and abilities necessary for certain highly-specialized professionals were introduced in September 1999.

  So that high quality education and research in line with their objectives are provided, professional schools are required to:

In this way, professional schools came to be treated differently from traditional graduate schools.

  Professional schools are expected to implement courses in business management, legal practice, finance, international development and cooperation, public policy, public health, etc. So far, three national and one private professional schools have already been established.

Educational content in upper secondary schools has become more diverse in recent years. Universities have also taken various measures to improve their educational content and methods from the viewpoint of establishing a smoother transition from upper secondary school to university and, by so doing, further bringing up various abilities of students. Such measures include the introduction of sub-course systems corresponding to various prospective courses of students, improvements in curriculum with more emphasis on general education, the preparation of syllabi with a detailed class schedule of each subject and the establishment of an upper limit on the number of registered credits aiming at securing sufficient time for each subject.

  In order to make these measures more effective, each university has made organizational efforts including class visits and advisory committees among teachers to improve educational content and methods (faculty development, implemented by 341 universities in FY2000). In addition, an increasing number of universities have employed more stringent achievement evaluation using easy-to-understand criteria. For example, some universities have introduced a system where only students with a certain level of academic achievement can graduate (Grade Point Average (GPA) system, introduced by 66 universities in FY2000).

  As described above, universities have tried to send their students into society with added values acquired through education tailored to the diverse academic history of each student. MEXT has encouraged these universities' efforts, which are an important social responsibility of universities.

  The rapidly changing society of the coming times will call for practical knowledge and skills as well as a creative and subjective ability to think and act.

  These demands increase the importance of internships where students have working experiences related to their own majors or future careers. In FY2000, about 30% of Japanese universities implemented an internship as part of the curriculum. The adoption of an internship, in turn, has facilitated improvements in the entire educational content and methods. An internship is also useful for businesses, because it provides them with opportunities to communicate their needs and other information to universities and students. The internship program has played important roles in building deeper cooperation between businesses and universities.

  The utilization of IT such as satellite communication and the Internet in university education contributes to enriching educational content, changing the way in which educational opportunities are offered and further expanding public access to university education. It is expected to take a key role in creating new social values.

  MEXT, therefore, has newly institutionalized a legal basis to recognize credits for university courses that use IT, and has extended support for distance learning using the Internet and other information technology. Along with the Ministry's efforts, each university has promoted, through the use of IT such as the Internet, the enrichment and sophistication of its courses, after-class hour learning assistance to its students and so on.