Akira Chiba, Chairman of the Shikoku Economic Federation, and the Presidents of four national universities in Shikoku, including Ehime University, visited the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and proposed a proposal entitled "For Shikoku Universities to Develop as a Core Center for Regional Revitalization." Was handed over to Secretary-General Kazuo Totani.We are calling for the correction of interregional imbalances in student capacity and the expansion of operating expenses subsidies.
According to the Shikeiren, the proposals were submitted by the Shikeiren and the four national universities of Ehime, Kagawa, Tokushima, and Kochi.According to the proposal, Shikoku has the lowest university enrollment capacity (local capacity) of 4% of the number of university enrollees in the region, which is the lowest in the regional block of the whole country, and young people are flowing out to metropolitan areas and operating expenses. It makes four proposals, saying that the reduction of grants will not allow the recruitment of faculty members at national universities.
As for measures against the outflow of young people, drastic measures such as increasing the capacity of universities in Shikoku were required to correct the regional disparity in student capacity.The budget expansion of the national university corporation calls for an increase in operating expenses subsidies and priority budget measures for local universities that are actively working to contribute to the local community.
In the local settlement of young people, the government will actively support joint research between universities and local industries to create attractive employment opportunities, and local companies and students will come into contact with each other through internships and dispatch of business instructors. He complained that it would be effective to increase the number of students.
In addition, Shikoku students are temporarily saying that employment in rural areas will not progress because young people in rural areas have a strong interest in metropolitan areas and students who have entered universities in metropolitan areas do not have the opportunity to look to rural areas. While studying in metropolitan areas, universities in metropolitan areas are also seeking to consider a new system that allows them to study in Shikoku and earn credits.
