Directions and demands of university continuing education in Japan: The case of Tokushima University

• Main Author: Suzuki, Naoko
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: LC5201 Education extension. Adult education. Continuing education
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/1994/1/LLL_-_T1_-_05.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/1994/; http://3linc.uum.edu.my/

This paper briefly presents trends in university continuing education in Japan, focusing on a case of Tokushima University, a member of the National University Corporations in Japan. The research is mainly based on questionnaire surveys that were conducted over the last three years to adult learners who had been taking courses at the Center for University Extension within Tokushima University in Japan. It is revealed that the main target of Japanese university continuing education is confined to elderly people who have been retired and tend to be wealthy without having any financial problems, and that their intentions to come to this kind of university extension center are mostly non-vocational, such as to enrich their knowledge, to expand their hobbies, to meet people and find friends etc, while few people have interests in taking exams for certain certificates or qualifications after taking their courses.