The number of students admitted to science and engineering fields will increase by 347, and the number of students admitted to agriculture and fisheries will also increase.

　According to the summary table of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Regarding the enrollment quotas (planned) of national universities in 7," the enrollment quotas of national universities are set to increase by 326 students (table). What stands out is the increase of 347 students in science and engineering. Last year, the number of students in science and engineering increased by 366, so in two years, the enrollment quota for science and engineering has increased by nearly 700 students. The agriculture and fisheries field also increased by 31 students. In return, the enrollment quota for humanities and social sciences has decreased, down 50 students last year and 70 students this time. About 10 years ago, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology was criticized for issuing a notice that could be interpreted as "national universities do not need liberal arts," and explained that it was not that liberal arts were unnecessary, but that they intended to shift to fields with high social demand, but looking at it this way, it may have been that liberal arts were unnecessary after all.

　The main universities that have reduced their admission quotas are Akita University (Faculty of Education and Culture, Department of Regional Culture) - 20 people, Yamanashi University (Faculty of Education, School Education Course) - 10 people, Shiga University (Faculty of Economics, Department of General Economics) - 50 people, Wakayama University (Faculty of Education, School Education Teacher Training Course) - 30 people, and Yamaguchi University (Faculty of Education, School Education Teacher Training Course) - 25 people.In terms of numbers, Shiga University (Faculty of Economics) has the most, but in terms of numbers, the Faculty of Education stands out with the large number of cases.

　The reduced enrollment quotas are being used to establish new faculties and increase enrollment quotas in existing faculties, such as Akita University (establishment of the Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Information and Data Science), Yamanashi University (increase in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Department of Life Science, from 40 to 50), Shiga University (increase in the Department of Data Science, Department of Data Science, from 100 to 150), Wakayama University (increase in the Department of Systems Engineering, Department of Systems Engineering, from 305 to 335), and Yamaguchi University (establishment of the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Studies for Co-creation of People and Cities Futures).

　In some cases, the enrollment quotas of faculties other than those that have had their enrollments reduced are being used, so the diversion to new faculties, etc. does not necessarily correspond one-to-one, but this is a shift to fields with high social demand. The next question to be asked is whether the new faculties and faculties with increased enrollment quotas are really in high demand in society.

50% of national and public universities have already achieved this goal

　The fields with the highest social demand are thought to be nursing care, welfare, and agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, but according to the first proposal of the Council for Creating the Future of Education, there is a shortage of digital and green talent. Digital talent is expected to be short of 2030 advanced IT talent by 54.5, and although the number of green talent shortages is not specified, it is said that there will be a shortage due to the creation of new jobs in renewable energy and the fact that 2050% of local governments that have declared that they will be carbon neutral by 10 need external talent. The first proposal of the Council for Creating the Future of Education sets a goal of increasing the proportion of students majoring in natural sciences (science), which is currently only 35%, to about XNUMX%, the highest level among OECD countries, over the next XNUMX to XNUMX years. In line with this policy, new faculties are being established and enrollment quotas are being expanded.

　Therefore, we have roughly calculated the admission quotas for humanities and sciences at national universities using the admission quotas for 2024. For faculties that claim to integrate humanities and sciences, we have calculated the totals by dividing them into humanities and sciences by half. This gives an admission quota of about 38,000 students for humanities faculties and about 57,000 students for science faculties, which is well over XNUMX%. Next year, the admission quota for science faculties will increase even further, so it may seem like an excessive increase.

　I tried to do a rough calculation for public universities, and the admission capacity for liberal arts faculties is about 17,000, and for science faculties it is about 16,000, so it's almost 14%. Looking at private universities, the School Basic Survey (final value last year) shows that the number of students entering science, engineering, agriculture, and health is about 28, or 16%. Even if you add half of the "other" fields as science, it's about 32, or 50%, so it still doesn't reach 9%. The number of students entering private universities is about XNUMX, so another XNUMX need to go into science to reach XNUMX%, but will the number of students going into science increase to that extent?

Should liberal arts high school students be accepted into mild science faculties?

　The number of university admissions for science departments is certainly increasing, but unless the number of high school science students taking the exam increases, the admissions quota cannot be filled. The first proposal of the Council for Creating the Future of Education states that the trend is moving away from science at the high school level, with only about 2025% of students choosing science. According to a document from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the population of 18-year-olds in 110 will be 22 million, which means that XNUMX will be high school science students. At this stage, the quota cannot be filled, but I think that those involved in entrance exams at high schools and universities feel that more than XNUMX% of high school students are science students.

　The figure of 2013% of high school students majoring in science is a common one, but upon further investigation, the source appears to be a report published in 22 by the National Institute for Educational Policy Research entitled "Study on Science Course Selection in Junior and Senior High Schools." The report includes a statement and survey data stating that "27% of students (16% boys, 45% girls) take science courses in their third year of high school, while 38% take liberal arts courses (54% boys, 10% girls)." This means that policies are being formulated based on data from XNUMX years ago, but it seems to be out of touch with the reality on the ground.

　Accurate figures such as the ratio of humanities/science majors among high school students are difficult to find outside of the mock test data from various companies, but the results of a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, titled "Survey on the organization and implementation of the curriculum in public high schools in 27," includes the results of "Subject completion status in high school (selected survey of entrants in 25)."

　Looking at this, the enrollment rate for Mathematics II in general education is 92.5%, and the enrollment rate for Mathematics III is 29.5%. This survey does not include data from private high schools, which are thought to have a large number of science students, so if we add this in, we can guess that about 18% of high school students are aiming to go on to science. The 110-year-old population is 44% of 2023 million, or 57.7, multiplied by the university enrollment rate of 25% in XNUMX is about XNUMX, so the XNUMX% target is still a very high hurdle, or rather, it seems to be assumed that there will clearly be under-enrollment.

　This is not a good estimate for universities that are planning to establish new science faculties, but if we develop the idea, it may be possible to open a path. That is the idea of ​​accepting liberal arts students. There are already cases that seem to be like this. Yamaguchi Prefectural University (Faculty of International Studies, Department of Information Society), which is scheduled to be established next year in 2025, aims to create liberal arts students who are strong in the digital society. Yamaguchi University (Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Human and City Future Co-Creation), which is also scheduled to be established next year, has also presented the concept of "Liberal Arts DX Human Resources" as the type of human resources to be trained. I think it is a coincidence that both are in Yamaguchi Prefecture, but for such mild science faculties, considering the 92.5% enrollment rate for Mathematics II, I think it is quite possible to expect the capacity to be filled.

Reference document

7 National University Admissions Capacity (Planned)
https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/houjin/1408700_00009.html

National Institute for Educational Policy Research "Final report on the study of science career choices in junior and senior high schools" (PDF)
https://www.nier.go.jp/05_kenkyu_seika/pdf_seika/h24/2_3_all.pdf

FY27 Survey on the Formation and Implementation of Curriculum in Public High Schools
https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/new-cs/1368209.htm

Yamaguchi Prefectural University, Faculty of International Studies, Department of Information and Social Sciences
https://iss.ypu.jp/

Yamaguchi University Interdisciplinary Center for Human and Urban Future Co-Creation
https://www.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/faculty/cci/index.html