Japan scarce of people, scarce of students

　　Source: Global Times [16:59 September 30 2010]Comments

　　In a country with a shrinking population, the latest trend in Japan's higher education is something of a mystery: the number of universities and academic programs is rising. But there is one obvious problem: not enough students are signing up。

　　The Japanese government says that nearly half of professionally oriented programs, aside from law schools, have yet to fill their stated student capacity. And the problem has been especially acute in graduate programs in education。

　　"Japanese universities tend to roll out programs without having a good grasp of the needs in the marketplace. When they start a program, they assume there will be students," said Kenichi Yoshida, an executive senior consultant at the Japan Research Institute in Tokyo, which is affiliated with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp。

　　In Japan, the need for graduate programs seems undeniable: lifetime employment is crumbling, employers are committing less time and money to training young workers, and social problems are becoming more complex, increasing the need for experts. Setting up graduate programs in education was the universities' answer to a growing dissatisfaction with the primary and secondary school system。

　　Currently, local school districts have different policies regarding promotions and benefits for teachers with graduate degrees. Some schools have gone around visiting undergraduate departments giving explanatory sessions to let people know about their programs. Others send students to teach at local primary and secondary schools; students teach lessons at local schools, videotape the classes and then bring the tapes back for evaluation with other students。

　　日本研究生教育遭遇“学生慌”

　　美国《国际先驱论坛报》9月27日文章：日本研究院所学生稀少

　　在日本这个人口缩减的国家，近来其高等教育出现了一个耐人寻味的奇怪趋势：高校以及科研项目增多。但是问题也很明显——找不到学生。

　　日本政府称，除法学院外，几乎一半的专业研究项目都招不满。而师范领域的研究生项目招生尤其困难。

　　“日本大学一般都是在没有很好地掌握市场需求的情况下就设置专业研究项目，当学院开设一个研究项目时，首先就认为肯定能招到人，”位于东京、隶属于三井住友银行的日本研究所资深顾问吉田建一说。

　　日本社会对研究生项目的需求似乎是无可辩驳的：随着终身雇佣制逐渐土崩瓦解，雇主不愿再花时间和金钱对年轻员工进行培训，社会问题也变得愈加复杂，这些都直接催生了对各类专家的需求。鉴于社会对中小学教育制度的不满日益增多，日本大学只得采取针对性措施，开设研究生项目。

　　如今，各地学校所在区域为了扩大生源、提高有研究生学历的教师待遇纷纷出台各种政策。例如某些研究院所到高等学府的大学部开展讲座，以便人们了解研究这些项目。另外一些则会派学生到当地的中小学去实习。这些学员在当地教课并将教学过程拍摄下来，然后带回院所和其他学员一其分析评估。