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CHAPTER , THE LONG-TERM OVERALL EDUCATIONAL PLANNING--FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT

Institutions of higher education in Japan include graduate schools, universities, junior colleges and technical colleges. Higher education has expanded in response to progress in science and technology, the democratization of education and increase in the national income. Higher education on the one hand has been fulfilling the long-established objective of advancing scientific research and training leaders for which the university is mainly responsible, and, on the other hand, has adapted to perform the new function, necessary in an evolving democratic society, of raising the general level of education, culture and vocational and professional competence.

Specific goals of higher education must include extension of opportunity for higher education to all youths of post-secondary age who have the competence to pursue higher education; development of a high level of general cultural education; adjustment of curricula and enrollments to meet current and future socio-economic needs; and maintenance of high standards of academic achievement.

Areas of improvement or change requisite to attainment of these goals include, specifically: (1) Improvement of methods of selection, particularly the system of entrance examinations; (2) Expansion of scholarship system;(3) Re-evaluation of curricula and curricular content, with immediate stress on expansion of curricula and enrollments in fields of greatest socio-economic need such as science and technology; (4) Expansion also in the area of general education to meet the needs of vastly increased numbers of students.

As previously noted, post-war decreases in the percentage of total public education expenditures allotted to higher education, and increasing percentages of students of higher education indicate a grave need for the larger allotment of educational expenditure to higher education.