In Japan, training for the exercise of professions is generally carried out in graduate programs. Professionals are licensed to physicians and dentists when they have completed six years of undergraduate studies and passed a National Fitness Test. Other professions, such as teachers, engineers, and accountants, must complete undergraduate programs and, in certain cases, pass additional exams taken by outside agencies. To qualify as a jurist, the applicant, after completing a four-year law program at the undergraduate level and passing a preliminary status exam, must acquire additional training for an additional two years at a research and jurisprudence institute.
Students who aspire to enter universities or junior colleges must take an entrance exam taken by each institution. This exam consists of a test on educational performance and covers between two and five subjects. The grades obtained at the upper middle level are also taken into account. In the case of national and local public universities, applicants must first pass the Preliminary National Test, which is taken throughout the country by the National Center for the University Entrance Examination, under the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. and then take the entrance exam required by each university.
The purpose of the National Preliminary Test is to verify that applicants meet the standards of school achievement in the five core subjects (Japanese language, mathematics, social studies, natural sciences, and foreign language) taught at the upper secondary level. For admission to these institutions, the results of this preliminary test are considered together with those of the specific admission exam taken by each university or junior college. Among private universities, the practice of adopting the Preliminary National Test in the selection of its students has also increased.
The degree of competence to enter higher education varies according to the prestige of the institution of upper secondary education from which the student comes and the popularity of the university institution.; This is based on an ambiguous mix of factors, such as the social prestige enjoyed by the university and its graduates, its location and the characteristics of its environment, the opportunities that its graduates have in the job market, etc. Since each university, college, or department sets a fee for students to admit each year, applicants who are not admitted to an institution of their first choice may choose a second or third choice by taking an entrance exam at these institutions, or expect to have another opportunity the following year at the institution of your first choice.
Universities can establish postgraduate studies. There are two-year programs for a master's degree and three-year programs for those who, with a master's degree, wish to obtain a doctorate. However, the duration of doctoral programs can be shortened from normal five years to three years, depending on the discipline and the candidate's ability and qualifications. There are master's programs to train professionals at a high level in the areas of teaching, engineering and business activities. Procedures are applied to evaluate the training obtained in the postgraduate course.Researcher training is accomplished in doctoral programs or, in certain cases, performing full-time assistant duties on research projects after completing undergraduate education or a master's degree.
Most academic staff and graduate students carry out research activities at universities. In addition to faculties and schools, which are institutional units dedicated to teaching and research, universities can create research centers or institutes, experimental stations, hospitals and schools, equipped with their full-time research teams. Thirteen research institutes from national universities and 15 independent research institutions were designated in 1989 by the national government to form a joint research network; however, researchers from other universities can participate in such research projects.
In addition to research carried out by universities, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has established around 20 research institutes and museums in the fields of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. There are also various research and development institutions funded by philanthropic foundations or industrial corporations.
Specific features of education in Japan
The conditions established in the Japanese educational system are based on a high degree of demands at all levels and modalities. The educational process, driven by intense pressure from parents and teachers, pursues a well-defined goal: to instill in students' spirits the notion of competitiveness and to select through rigorous examinations the most advantageous applicants, from the age of three to who enter a university.
Elementary school students who normally attend 30 hours a week of classes for 240 days a year, including Saturdays, are required to wear military-style attire even if they are outside the educational institution or on holiday.
When students enter high school the pressures increase and, in practice, all worries and activities that are not aimed at strengthening the chances of success on the university entrance exam disappear. Students do not live for anything other than passing that test, known as "hell test." Thus, to improve their training in subjects considered difficult, 40% of high school students attend night classes daily in ad hoc private academies called "juku", whose tuition for 60 hours of classes per month amounts to $ 250. The popular saying regarding the admission exam to one of the 2,130 universities in the country, highlights that the student passes if he sleeps four hours a day, but fails if he sleeps six.
The Japanese government and large companies fuel this competitiveness and are guided by the prestige ("halo effect") of university institutions in selecting their employees.
The competition also applies to teachers in the higher education system. The most capable teachers, who have made the greatest training efforts and who have high qualifications, enter the academic establishment of the best universities and enjoy the best remuneration in the system.
In this way, the style that is imposed in Japanese education has been particularly effective in promoting discipline, tenacity and personal responsibility regarding quality and efficiency in the educational system, as well as establishing close ties and fruitful between the contents of formal education and productive activities.
Annexes
The levels of the Japanese educational system are:
A student will earn the "Bachelor's Degree" upon graduation if he meets the following criteria:
Bibliographic Source
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of the Japan.
- Nakajima, Takeshi: "The Japanese Educational System".
