Japan may lose out in the international arena, especially in scientific and technological research, if no appropriate steps are taken to stem the decline in Japanese university students' academic abilities, warns the new president of the prestigious University of Tokyo.
"The University of Tokyo is no exception when talking about the decline of students' academic ability," Takeshi Sasaki said in a recent interview with The Japan Times. "We are taking the problem very seriously because the foundation of academic research could crumble."
In recent years, university teachers have pointed out that students' academic skills have been slipping. This is partly because entrance exams have become easier to pass as universities try to keep enrollments up while the number of high school graduates drops amid the falling birthrate.