The neglect of serious study

Scandal on the campus

TOKYO

Many of the students who applied for admission to Sakata Junior College, a university in Yamagata prefecture, in the north of Japan, were from China. Not all of them intended to study. What they wanted was a visa that allowed them to work in Japan. Hard-up Salcata accepted their tuition fees and turned a blind eye when 60% of its 342 students failed to turn up to do their studies. But when word leaked out to the authorities, Sakata found itself in serious trouble. Damaged by the scandal and on the verge of collapse, it has stopped accepting applications for the next university year, starting in April.

Although Sakata's conduct was inex­cusable, it has to be said that neglect of se­rious study is a feature of other Japanese universities. Passing the examinations to get a university place can be tough in some cases-the so-called "examination hell" ­but once a student gets there the next four years may involve very little work. Even at top universities, poor attendance often goes unchecked.

Lectures are monotonous and discus­sions rare, say critics. Assignments are set, but essays, once handed in, may not find their way back to students. "Even when we put a lot of effort into our reports, it's hard to figure out what the professors think of them as we usually don't get them back," says Ayako Ito, a fourth-year stu­dent at Waseda University. Corporate re­cruiters complain about the falling quality of university graduates.

Student numbers for each university are fixed by the education ministry. Just as other ministries protect the industries they oversee, so too do the education bureau­crats who superintend almost 700 univer­sities, three-quarters of which are privately run. Like companies struggling to reform, these universities are hampered by rigid labour laws that make it hard to fire incom­petent members of the staff.

The government provides some money to universities, but the private institutions mostly meet their needs from tuition fees. Once these are paid, says Yutaka Moro­hoshi, a professor at Obirin University in Tokyo, some universities lose interest in their students. Alumni associations such as those in America and Britain that raise money for universities-and may keep an eye on teaching standards as well-are rare in Japan. Many college administrators do not inspire confidence, lacking even basic managerial skills, such as understanding a balance sheet.

But, says Takafumi Goda, a director in the higher-education bureau at the educa­tion ministry, companies need to shoulder some of the blame for falling standards. Their policy has been to seek conscien­tious graduates who were willing to buckle down and obediently follow or­ders. But now, he says, Japanese business needs more enterprising folk; they might be able to put pressure on universities to keep up with changing times.

They will have to. Because of Japan's falling birth rate, by 2009, predicts Obun­sha, an educational publisher, the number of university applicants will match the number of places offered (see chart). In re­ality, there will be fewer applicants, since many students opt to take a year off if they do not get into the university of their choice. Mr Morohoshi reckons that as many as one in four universities may not survive the forthcoming era of fierce com­petition-which will include growing pres­sure from occupational training schools.

Universities are getting alarmed. Some of the top ones have begun creating new departments that offer students a broader range of subjects, and more flexible courses. After the Sakata scandal the gov­ernment says it aims to monitor universi­ties more closely. It is no longer so rigid about curriculums, and hopes that this will persuade universities to start offering innovative new courses. In April next year, it plans to turn public universities into "in­dependent administrative corporations" that have more freedom to spice up courses, hire new professors and engage outside lecturers. From now on, says Mr Goda, universities will have to compete and be more creative if they seriously want to survive.

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