In a country with a shrinking population, the latest trend in Japan's higher education is something of a mystery: the number of universities and academic programs is rising. But there is one obvious problem: not enough students are signing up.

在日本這個人口縮減的國家，近來其高等教育出現(xiàn)了一個耐人尋味的奇怪趨勢：高校以及科研項(xiàng)目增多。但是問題也很明顯——找不到學(xué)生。

The Japanese government says that nearly half of professionally oriented programs, aside from law schools, have yet to fill their stated student capacity. And the problem has been especially acute in graduate programs in education.

日本政府稱，除法學(xué)院外，幾乎一半的專業(yè)研究項(xiàng)目都招不滿。而師范領(lǐng)域的研究生項(xiàng)目招生尤其困難。

"Japanese universities tend to roll out programs without having a good grasp of the needs in the marketplace. When they start a program, they assume there will be students," said Kenichi Yoshida, an executive senior consultant at the Japan Research Institute in Tokyo, which is affiliated with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

“日本大學(xué)一般都是在沒有很好地掌握市場需求的情況下就設(shè)置專業(yè)研究項(xiàng)目，當(dāng)學(xué)院開設(shè)一個研究項(xiàng)目時，首先就認(rèn)為肯定能招到人，”位于東京、隸屬于三井住友銀行的日本研究所資深顧問吉田建一說。

In Japan, the need for graduate programs seems undeniable: lifetime employment is crumbling, employers are committing less time and money to training young workers, and social problems are becoming more complex, increasing the need for experts. Setting up graduate programs in education was the universities' answer to a growing dissatisfaction with the primary and secondary school system.

日本社會對研究生項(xiàng)目的需求似乎是無可辯駁的：隨著終身雇傭制逐漸土崩瓦解，雇主不愿再花時間和金錢對年輕員工進(jìn)行培訓(xùn)，社會問題也變得愈加復(fù)雜，這些都直接催生了對各類專家的需求。鑒于社會對中小學(xué)教育制度的不滿日益增多，日本大學(xué)只得采取針對性措施，開設(shè)研究生項(xiàng)目。

Currently, local school districts have different policies regarding promotions and benefits for teachers with graduate degrees. Some schools have gone around visiting undergraduate departments giving explanatory sessions to let people know about their programs. Others send students to teach at local primary and secondary schools; students teach lessons at local schools, videotape the classes and then bring the tapes back for evaluation with other students.

如今，各地學(xué)校所在區(qū)域?yàn)榱藬U(kuò)大生源、提高有研究生學(xué)歷的教師待遇紛紛出臺各種政策。例如某些研究院所到高等學(xué)府的大學(xué)部開展講座，以便人們了解研究這些項(xiàng)目。另外一些則會派學(xué)生到當(dāng)?shù)氐闹行W(xué)去實(shí)習(xí)。這些學(xué)員在當(dāng)?shù)亟陶n并將教學(xué)過程拍攝下來，然后帶回院所和其他學(xué)員一其分析評估。