25 gI Outline of Japanese School Systemh Previous Next JAPANESE
I Outline of Japanese School System
While the colleges of technology might appear to be similar to special / vocational schools that hsf special curricullums and specialized training colleges under the old Japanese educational system, they are completely different institutions. During an early stage of era of high economic growth Japan, demands for technical experts to function as emiddle man powerf for industries grew. Colleges of technology were first established in 1967. In their five-year educational programs, the first three-years correspond to upper secondary school and the last two years correspond to junior college. The advantage is that these colleges provide five-years of systematic technical education. The disadvantage is that they become fixed on training of mid-level technicians as the demand for highly skilled technicians by industry becomes stronger.
The colleges of technology represent a new type of educational institution that were added after the enactment of the School Education Law. They became an exceptional element of the single-track school system linking upper secondary and higher education. In addition, since it in practice it was difficult to transfer to universities during the early phases of these institutions, there was a concern that the single-track school system would become a double track one. However, this concern has receded as the flexibility of Japanfs educational system had increased and the diversity of higher education has been promoted.
Although the educational content of the colleges of technology during their first three years of instruction was based on upper secondary school curricula and standards, they do not conform to the guidelines of the Course of Study. Also although they are categorized as institutions of higher education, they are completely different from universities as they do not have faculty meetings for educational and organizational management. This makes their systematic characteristics unclear, having features of both upper secondary and higher education.

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