Hiromi SASAI

National Institute for Educational Policy Research of Japan

The structure and the customary

practice of Japanese employment are

gradually changing

A shift towards service

oriented-economics has

penetrates most industrial

territory by recent

globalization and the progress

of the knowledge based society

Competitive

environments have

been formed on

a global scale

The advent of globalization and

a knowledge-based society and

the subsequent changes to

the structure and the customary

practice of Japanese employment

have led to new educational,

employment and labor issues

NUMBER OFSMALL AND MEDIUM-

SIZED BUSINESSESLARGE COMPANIES

Companies 99.7% 0.3%.

Employees 69% 31%

In Japan, the number of workers has seen a shift in

each industry from primary and secondary to tertiary

industries.

RATIO OFPRIMARY

INDUSTRIESSECONDARY INDUSTRIES

TERTIARY INDUSTRIES

Employees 5.4% 26.3%. 68.3%

Essential

Skills and

Behavior

Finding job

in tertiary

industries

Getting a

position of

small and

medium-sized

businesses

High unemployment rates about 9%

contingent employment rates about 32%

mugyosha (who are neither employed, nor

attending school nor married) about 630,000

people who soon leave their jobs 40% of high

school graduates / 30% of university graduates

Younger people in a difficult situation

Mass hiring of new graduates and on-the-job training and education on the assumption of lifelong employment have long been features of employment customs in Japan.

The technical knowledge and skills needed for a job were generally acquired and developed through education and training at the companies, but about 70% of firms now see training personnel as a major challenge due to lack of time, money and personnel to conduct the training.

High school general education fails to cultivate

a sufficient view of career and work?

◆Students have little desire to learn job skills at school

◆Students are not tackling their school lives, studies

and career options with clear goals in mind

◆Approximately 30% of senior high school graduates

enter university with no thought for finding

employment after graduation

The percentage of adults over age 24 enteringuniversity averages

21% for OECD countries 2% for Japan

The change away from the conventional method of in-house training and education as well as the increasingly sophisticated and diversified technical knowledge and skills required for jobs are raising workers’ learning needs

◆Relation between school

education on the one hand

◆Vocation and human resources

training on the other

◇Smooth transition from

school to society and jobs

◇Young people’s social and

vocational autonomy

• Improvement of career

education in school

•Young people’s social and

vocational autonomy

Smooth

transition

from school

to society

•Expansion and improvement

of Recurrent education

•Appropriate social evaluation

for the skills for career up

Vocation and

human

resources

training

The Central Council for Education reported “Towards the construction of the education for bachelor degree program" in 2008

It emphasized the importance of “Competency for bachelor to cultivate through each specialism“, based on recognition to be the issue that cultivating of competency for bachelor plays important role in the global knowledge-based society

Knowledge and understanding

• Understanding knowledge about various cultures

• Understanding knowledge about culture, society, nature of the

human

Generic skill

• Communication skill, numerate skill, information literacy,

logical thought, skill for soluveing the problem

Behavior and directivity

• Self-management, teamwork, the leadership, outlook on ethic,

social responsibility as the citizen, skill for lifelong learning

Integrated learning experience and creative thinking

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry proposed the concept of “The basic competency for the member of society" in 2006 as “the necessary basic skills to work with a variety of people in the workplace or the community“ in addition to "basic academic attainments" and “special knowledge"

Competency for Action

• Autonomy, Skill to facilitate, Skill to execute

Competency for Thinking

• Creativity, Skill for planning, Skill for

discovering issues

Competency for Teamwork

•Skill for information dispatching, Skill for listening

closely, flexibility, Skill for information grasping,

regularity, Skill for stress control

The career education has been done at each high school and each university, etc. to acquire above mentioned competencies and skills.

However, in addition, we have to consider some issues on skill development from a view point of the development of specialty.

How shall we grasp the meaning and the

contents of “Skill Development”?

Adaptation to the skill needs of labor market

Difference between the basis and the application

Contents of generic skill and specific skill

Skill Development from the view point of ESD

How shall we improve mismatch of the

employment and early quitting a job of the young

people ?

Contents of specialty of service industries

Labor-oriented job and knowledge-oriented job

Maintenance and development of career conciseness

How shall we assess the learning results

and make them circulate in the society

Measures for assessing the learning results

Linkage to the qualification system

Corresponding to the flowing of the labor market

Promotion of the recurrent education for SD

How shall we promote to develop

and support a entrepreneur?

Education for a entrepreneur

Where is the expected field, ex. green business?

Improvement of a incubator for entrepreneurs