All Japanese universities may soon be required to provide students with key statistics about their employment and dropout rates and other quantifiable facts, if a new proposal is accepted by the Central Council for Education. The list of items to publicly divulge is divided into five areas the education ministry thinks need improving: education, students, organization, economic framework and learning environment. Universities get the chance to take a positive step toward accountability.
All universities should provide this information to prospective students and parents. Universities have long been highly secretive. In recent years, with the establishment of well-funded publicity offices in every university, their self-claims are promoted through ad campaigns that are sophisticated and expensive. Providing data helps students and parents make decisions about a very expensive undertaking.
However, the proposal assumes that the complexities of an educational institution could be meaningfully assessed with basic statistics. Improving those educational areas will not happen simply by releasing data. Disclosure of the number of students who drop out along the way or who get jobs at the end of their studies does not necessarily help potential dropouts or assure that new students find the right job. The learning environment itself must be enhanced. True learning is extremely difficult to quantify because it takes place within the individual and takes a long time.