According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 86 of the 18 national universities nationwide are embarking on the reorganization of faculties, departments, and courses.Of these, 15 schools will stop recruiting "zero exemption courses" that do not require the acquisition of a teacher's license in the teacher training course. This was the biggest reform since it became a national university in 2004, but it seems that the reorganization will continue in the future as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has issued a notice requesting the abolition of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to each national university.
According to the Ministry of Education, the newly established faculties include Utsunomiya University Faculty of Regional Design Science, Chiba University Faculty of International Liberal Arts, Tokushima University Faculty of Production Resources Industry, and Oita University Faculty of Health and Welfare Sciences.A total of 8 faculties will be newly established in a total of 13 schools.The reorganization of the faculties will be carried out at seven schools, including Hirosaki University with the Faculty of Humanities as the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shinshu University with the Faculty of Economics as the Faculty of Economics, and Kochi University with the Faculty of Agriculture as the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Marine Sciences.7 schools including Tokyo University, University of Fukui, and Yamaguchi University will reorganize the departments.The enrollment capacity will be increased by 14 schools such as Yamanashi University, Kyoto Institute of Technology, and Fukuoka University of Education, but will be reduced by 13 schools such as Tokyo University of the Arts, Shizuoka University, and Hiroshima University.
16 schools such as Iwate University, Mie University, Wakayama University, and Saga University will suspend the recruitment of departments, and 15 schools excluding Kyoto Institute of Technology will suspend the recruitment of zero exemption courses for teacher training departments.Of these, seven schools, including Utsunomiya University, Chiba University, and Fukui University, will be integrated with the Faculty of Science to create new faculties and allocate capacity.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology intends to continue to request each university to abolish the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and reorganize it into other fields in response to the intensifying competition between international universities.
