Insight from Japan: Keep academia free

People

Published: 10 Jul. 2007, 21:46

Insight from Japan: Keep academia free

In Japan, the government does not intervene in university management. Universities make independent decisions.
Hiroshi Komiyama, 63, the president of the University of Tokyo, stressed the importance of autonomy of universities in an exclusive interview with the JoongAng Ilbo.
He noted that Japanese public high schools were once strong, and the students competed hard to get into them.
When the government tried to cut down on that competition, Komiyama said, it ended up weakening the public high schools and making the competition to get into strong private high schools even more fierce.
Komiyama visited Korea on June 24 for a joint forum with the University of Tokyo and Seoul National University and a discussion, “A Challenge to Sustainable Science,” at Seoul National Institute of Technology on the same day.

Q. Recently, the Korean government has been practically forcing universities to adopt its admissions policy.
A. Every nation can set up its best possible entrance examination system. We, however, have to keep in mind that it is difficult to rebuild the university and the educational system after they have collapsed.

Can you give an example in Japan?
In the past, there were lots of decent public high schools in Japan. Because the competition in entrance exams to get into them was so fierce, the government adopted a school district system. For instance, a student who wanted to go to Hibiya High School would have to go through a lottery system that included three or four other school districts, including Hibiya.
After the shift, many Hibiya students failed to enter the University of Tokyo, whereas about 200 of its students were accepted in the past. As public high schools declined, private high schools gained in prominence, leading to even fiercer competition.

What is the lesson from this?
Even if the government tries to curb competition, the reactions of students and their parents can’t be predicted. These days, there are moves to try to restore provincial high schools. It takes only one moment for an education system to collapse, but 30 to 40 years to rebuild it.

What support does the University of Tokyo receive from the government?
The University of Tokyo still gets 43 percent of its budget from the government even though it was incorporated in 2004. The university has to be competitive with expenses when proposing new research.

Are any interventions tied to the budget support?
There is little intervention, and no requirements to coordinate the number of students with social responsibilities. There is no intervention in the number of students per department, entrance requirements, hiring of professors or opening of new departments.

What was the key for the University of Tokyo to become an international university?
A university gets better by employing good professors and giving them the freedom to research. This is a lesson from history. It is related to the autonomy of the university. Autonomy is important, both outside the university and inside. When it comes to scholarship, the university should be free.

Do you think that the development of the University of Tokyo has contributed to Japan’s level of national competitiveness?
It has been 130 years since the University of Tokyo was founded. The goal of obtaining research that can lead the world provides universities with their purpose and competitive drive. The University of Tokyo wants to spread the ideas of Asia to the world with the results of its international research. The globalization of the University of Tokyo is directly related to the globalization of Japan.

What is your opinion of the elite education system in universities?
We need international leaders as well as leaders of local societies. The point is how to nurture those leaders.

What is the key to strengthen the competitiveness of universities in the 21st century?
In the past, we have regarded internationalization more as participation in international society. Now the key is shaping societies with their own ideas. Leading the world with new studies is the real way that universities can become more international and more competitive.

What should a non-English speaking university do in order to become a global university?
Our studies of the science of aging, or gerontology, of Asians is one example. It’s important to keep a regional character, even when a study can be important to the rest of the world.

Any restraint from the government when opening a new department?
The university is supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education with a limited budget. We formed a consortium of universities as a unified system to research the science of aging, with support from the government of 800 billion yen ($6.5 billion) for five years during the period this plan is adopted.

How does the University of Tokyo pick out competitive students?
National exams are conducted throughout the country. We pick out four to five times our student capacity each year and sort out the competitive students through additional exams. The additional exam is given more weight.

Are there any government guidelines for admissions?
Not at all. We don’t need to inform the Ministry of Education. Basically the ministry cannot touch the internal operations of the university. There are no common standards among universities, either.

What’s the role of government?
Individuality and originality are more important in developed countries than in developing countries. Korea is already developed. I’m wondering whether the government’s actions will benefit the individualization of universities or not.

Are the professors evaluated?
The outcome of research is the fundamental power of universities. Evaluations are essential to enhance competitiveness.
We don’t give money, but we do give professors time as an incentive. When the evaluations are completed, I would guess about 10 percent will have to leave.

The Korean Ministry of Education plans to incorporate national universities, including Seoul National University, by 2010. Do you have any suggestions?
The trial and error of incorporation of Japan’s national universities can be a good guide. It is good to be self-regulating by incorporation, but then it is true that there will be budget problems.
The University of Tokyo also has reduced the budget in each department an average of about 1 percent, and about 3 percent in our hospital budget. Eight university hospitals among 42 universities that incorporated showed a loss.

By Park So-young, Kwon Keun-young JoongAng Ilbo [estyle@joongang.co.kr]