The number of universities offering high school-level supplementary lessons and other special measures to cope with academic deficiencies among freshmen is on the rise, reaching 65 percent of surveyed schools in fiscal 2008, data compiled by the education ministry showed Monday.
The survey indicates that universities have been accelerating efforts to deal with a decline in the level of academic ability among students following the government's adoption in the late 1970s of a more relaxed education policy, which led to reductions in teaching hours, critics said.
Easier university entrance examinations stemming from the declining birthrate may also have had a part in causing a decline in student performance, a ministry official said.