Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology recently announced that it will support an educational program developed by Soka University’s Faculty of Economics as part of its “Good Practices” initiative to improve placement opportunities for graduating students. The Soka program offers curricula to improve a student’s ability to identify and solve problems, as well as promote critical thinking. It also teaches economics courses in English to develop communication skills in the foreign language.
The Soka economics program won a special “Good Practices” designation from the ministry in 2007 for its faculty development initiatives and thus served as a pilot program in which continued faculty reforms were closely coordinated with upgraded placement and vocational training.
The university plans to adopt the program for all its undergraduate faculties and continue to improve the overall efficacy of its student placement initiatives by working with corporate employers to develop special courses on social contribution, provide career aptitude exams and overseas work internship programs.
A total of 441 public and private universities and colleges throughout Japan applied for GP selection, with some 180 ultimately receiving ministerial approval.