Sorimachi
The Ministry of Education appears somewhat flexible in relaxing the
standards on the
establishment of universities today. Does this mean that we will be seeing
some individual characteristics at each university?
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Tezuka
Yes, law schools and business schools will admit candidates without an
undergraduate degree. Applicants with high school degrees and those with
foreign degrees will also be qualified. The same concept will be applied to
hiring faculty members. We are now debating whether or not to employ some
practitioners, and if we do, what will be the standards by which selection
will be made.
Sorimachi
What is Chiba University doing along these lines?
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Tezuka
We have already embarked upon a new course of reform. In our
university, law and
economics are taught under one department. In terms of graduate program
reform, we intend to make changes so as to be able to train students as
candidates for practical professionals.
Sorimachi
What do you think our time looks for in a university education?
|
Tezuka
In Japan, the university has always followed whatever the government
has initiated. Take economic internationalization, for instance: the
government has reluctantly opened markets and adopted international
practices, bending to foreign pressure, and the university adjusted itself
to accommodate what the government reluctantly approved. But we should have
been able to foresee world trends ourselves, demonstrated our views and
taken the initiative ahead of the government.
Sorimachi
Don't you think a new educational approach is in demand in the field
of finance as well?
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Tezuka
In Japan, many banks, security firms and insurance companies have
failed to operate successfully on their own and are being subsidized by tax
money. Yet, the global business environment is much more competitive and
Japanese firms are ineluctably exposed to the same tough competition as
other world corporations. In Europe and America, there is an enormous
population of professionals who have been trained as analysts and traders.
Every year, more and more of these capable individuals come out of
universities and less than half of them obtain decent jobs. This is the
demand and supply situation for capable college graduates at present. Yet,
in Japan, we have not trained our graduates to a level where they can even
begin to compete neck- to- neck internationally.
In the midst of the 'bubble economy,' Japanese companies were able to
invest millions of yen in each new recruit, in order to train him to a
professional level, even sending him abroad to American institutions of
higher education and other organizations, although I am not sure if each
them has been able to give the appropriate results back to his company,
especially those now subject to company restructuring.
Also, foreign based financial institutions operating in Japan are moving
into electronic commerce operations through the Internet and other means,
so Japanese companies are being exposed to an even tougher competitive
environment.
Sorimachi
The new graduate programs will be required to supplement the weak points
which have resulted from our undergraduate programs, won't they?
|
Tezuka
We would like to develop a graduate program that could produce capable
micro- econometrics specialists, so we must have professionals and
international business experts as faculty.
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