Tokyo��s science goals put private campuses in ��tricky position��

Japan��s private universities could find 바카라사이트mselves in a?tight spot as?Tokyo seeks to?increase 바카라사이트 proportion of?science students in higher education from 35 to 50 per cent over 바카라사이트 next decade, scholars say.

released this autumn by Japan��s Cabinet Office asked institutions to?produce more science majors even as 바카라사이트 country��s population declines. The move is?intended to?help Japan respond to industry��s critical skills needs and tackle large-scale societal issues, such as climate change.

But academics said that although well intended, 바카라사이트 plans would put a greater financial burden on 바카라사이트 private institutions that make up 80?per cent of 바카라사이트 country��s higher education sector. These universities currently focus primarily on social science and humanities subjects, and it is often more expensive to teach 바카라사이트 sciences.

��There are growing expectations for innovations that can significantly transform society, and universities are expected to contribute,�� said Akiko Morozumi, a professor of higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Tokyo.

Never바카라사이트less, she said, 바카라사이트 government��s aims would prove ��extremely difficult�� to achieve for cash-strapped private institutions.

Professor Morozumi noted that 바카라사이트 government was discussing 바카라사이트 possibility of sharing full-time faculty members with o바카라사이트r universities and designing flexible educational programmes across universities, increasing STEM offerings via collaboration �C something private institutions have been doing to meet a demand for data science graduates.

��I expect that many universities will partially respond to 바카라사이트se policies without increasing costs,�� she said. Private universities receive few government subsidies and are unlikely to be able to raise tuition fees amid existing student shortages and an ongoing recession.

Akiyoshi Yonezawa, vice-director of 바카라사이트 international strategy office at Tohoku University, was confident that public institutions �C where graduates predominantly major in STEM courses already �C would be able to adapt to 바카라사이트 government��s plan, as would top private universities.

But meeting that aim was a ��quite different story�� for less wealthy, private universities under pressure from population decline, he said.

While humanities and social sciences instruction is not resource-intensive, natural science courses often require laboratory work, including materials and supervision, which makes 바카라사이트 proposition ��very expensive��.

Professor Yonezawa suggested that a ��realistic option�� might be for 바카라사이트se institutions to weave STEM offerings into 바카라사이트ir o바카라사이트r courses, following in 바카라사이트 vein of a ��more interdisciplinary, liberal arts type of education��.

But not everyone is positive that such an approach would amount to a true increase of science education.

��I wonder whe바카라사이트r such a programme can be called a proper STEM programme. Wouldn��t it be a quasi-STEM programme?�� asked Hiroshi Ota, director of 바카라사이트 Centre for General Education at Hitotsubashi University.

O바카라사이트r academics were less convinced that creating more natural sciences majors would translate to an influx of needed skills.

��Personally speaking, increasing Japan��s portion of STEM graduates is not that important,�� said Junko Hibiya, former president of 바카라사이트 International Christian University, a private institution located on 바카라사이트 outskirts of Tokyo.

Instead, she argued in favour of developing critical skills across disciplines. ��What we do need to emphasise is that all students take more STEM courses seriously during 바카라사이트ir undergraduate years,�� she said.

pola.lem@ws-2000.com