31 gI Outline of Japanese School Systemh Previous Next JAPANESE
I Outline of Japanese School System
The number of universities in Japan has increased constantly, but the number of national universities began to decline in 2003 through a process of amalgamation. The number of junior colleges in Japan has also been declining since 1995 due to mergers with universities, as well as abolishment. Although the number of university students has increased to the present, it is certain that the number of students will begin to decline in the future due to expected declines in enrollment rates and a declining population of 18 year olds. Also the number of junior college students has been decreasing rapidly since the peak year in 1995, and has almost halved at the present. By contrast, the number of graduate school students has doubled during the last ten years, and continues to increase thanks to the establishment of professional graduate schools.
There is a large discrepancy in the number of university teachers when comparing national and public universities on the one hand, and private universities on the other, particularly in terms of the ratio the number of students per teacher. The figures are: 10.2 students per teacher for national universities, 10.8 for public universities, and 24.6 for private universities. This is problematic given the fact that many teachers at national and public universities also teach in graduate schools and that the majority of departments in private universities are for liberal arts.

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