Tokyo

Officials at the University of Tokyo hope reforms will ignite some passion in the student body. Credit: K. KANDACHI

Undergraduates at the University of Tokyo will have unprecedented freedom to switch between the sciences and the humanities, under a reform package that is due to take effect in three years' time. The move, which will be announced in March, is seen as a harbinger of change in Japan's notoriously inflexible higher-education system.

At the moment, it is difficult for students at Japan's most prestigious university to change their academic course after admittance. But the university's deans recently agreed to reforms that will allow science undergraduates to transfer to law, for example, at the end of their second year of study. Each department will accept a certain percentage of students from any academic track, based on their grades in their first two years.

The idea is to give students enough leeway to do what really interests them, explains Atsushi Koma, the university's vice-president. It is also aimed at meeting a growing demand for graduates who are well-versed in both sciences and the humanities to work in business, law, government and academia.

Under the plan, each department will require students to have attended prerequisite classes before transferring. The university promises to notify students of these requirements early enough for them to make a smooth transfer and graduate within the regular time frame.

In a bid to give students more freedom of choice, the university will introduce several associated measures, including a lecture series about new developments in the sciences and humanities, to help students to identify their true interests. The university will also introduce a financial-aid plan for outstanding students.

Koma says that in his experience as a chemistry professor, current restrictions stifle students by forcing them to persevere with topics they don't like. He adds that even students that move on to postgraduate work often lack a real passion for their subject area, and so avoid challenging choices of subject for their theses. The reforms will encourage students to take classes in more subjects, so they find out what intrigues them, Koma says.

But Masakata Ogawa, a professor of science and technology education at Kobe University, says that students will need much better career-planning advice than they get at the moment if they are to take advantage of a more flexible course structure.

Students are also voicing scepticism about the change. “Before the university introduces the reforms, I want it to make sure that each professor is more committed to teaching,” says one science student, who did not want to be identified. “Some professors seem to focus on research and lack the energy needed to teach undergraduates.”

But education experts say that the initiative will probably lead the way for Japan's other universities. “The innovation at the nation's top institution is likely to become a model for the Japanese university system,” says Masamichi Ishii, a senior research fellow at the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy in Tokyo.