We consider the future of education with Narita Yusuke, an assistant professor and economist at Yale University. Japan is considered a society that values ​​academic credentials. Narita says, "What is called academic credentials is a mixture of important and unimportant things." Regarding English, which Japanese people have complexes about, he predicted, "In the future, there will be a polarization of whether or not English is necessary." ■ Japanese education is "inflexible" On the other hand, there are also voices saying that an academic credentials society is not a bad thing. Caster Ogawa Ayaka: We will consider the future of Japanese education together with Narita, who teaches at an American university. Caster Yamamoto Erika: First, we asked people on the street what they think is the problem with Japanese education. : Freeter (20s) "Everyone (studying) makes the same things in the same way. It's like making machines or robots. I wish they would offer education that nurtures individuality a bit more." Father (40s) of an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old "Education in general has been formatted to give you set answers, so I think there's a lack of flexibility. Like freedom." Meanwhile, regarding Japan's academic credentials society... Third-year junior high school student: "Academic background is the easiest way to define a person, so I don't think there's anything bad about an academic credentials society." "I think it's not very fair if you get an advantage in work or other places based solely on your academic background." First-year university student: "When you're looking for a job, the first screening is a document review, so I guess it's a society based on academic background in that it seems like they generally hire people based on their academic background." Fourth-year university student: "If you go to a place with a high academic background or a famous place, you get the feeling that your options will expand in the overall picture of your life." Student (20s) "There are smart people who can't be used when they enter society, so I don't think (academic background) is that important." Father (40s) of a first-year junior high school student and a first-year high school student "I'm vaguely aware that no matter what you do in the future, you won't have any options without a certain level of education, and I do think that if you go to a high school or university of a certain level or higher, you'll be able to compete with others at the same level." ■ Interview with Narita Yusuke on Japan's "academic society" "It's important to think about what is meaningful and what isn't" Caster Ogawa: What do you think about the so-called "academic society"? Yale University Assistant Professor and Economist Narita Yusuke: Everyone loves academic qualifications, don't they? I think the important thing is that what is called academic qualifications is a mixture of "important and unimportant things." For example, you wonder if there really is a difference between a school with a high deviation value and an ordinary school. When you actually look into it, you sometimes find that famous universities and high schools in the United States actually have almost no educational effect. In that sense, academic qualifications are almost meaningless. I think it's often just assumed that they are important. So I think it's important to think about what is meaningful and what is not, without being swayed by the voices around you. ■World University Rankings 2023: Tokyo University 39th, Kyoto University 68th, Down from the Previous Year Caster Yamamoto: This is a world university ranking calculated by a British education magazine based on research content and the number of citations of papers. ▼1st place: University of Oxford, UK ▼2nd place: Harvard University, USA ▼3rd place: University of Cambridge, UK, Stanford University, USA. Japanese universities are the University of Tokyo in 39th place and Kyoto University in 68th place. Both the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University have dropped in rank compared to the previous year. Furthermore, there is data that of the universities in the top 100, China has 7 universities, Hong Kong has 5 universities, and Japan has 2 universities. Caster Ogawa: How should we view Japan's position? Mr. Narita: I don't think this is necessarily a simple matter of Japanese academic ability and ability declining. Japan is losing more and more young people, so even if there are people with similar abilities, it is inevitable that they will fall relatively compared to countries such as China, Asia, and the United States because the number of people is simply decreasing. It doesn't make much sense to see this as just a problem with universities, and the country of Japan and its economy as a whole are gradually shrinking, and this university ranking is one sign of its decline when viewed relative to other countries. Ogawa Caster: Yale University, where Narita is, is ranked 9th in the world university rankings, but what is the difference between it and Japanese universities? Narita: The most obvious difference is that Japanese universities are basically run almost entirely by Japanese people. Both teachers and students are Japanese. At top American universities, teachers and students come from all over the world, there is a mix of people speaking various languages, and most of the English they speak has a strong accent. I think that's the most obvious difference. So I guess the biggest thing is that the pool of talent that can be used is completely different. Ogawa Caster: So it's attractive and many talents come from all over the world. Narita: However, that is because America happens to be an English-speaking country and the center of the world economy, and there are various historical reasons for this… (https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/list/articl... #EnglishEducation #NaritaYusuke #OgawaAyaka #YamamotoErika #news23 #News #newsdig ▼TBS NEWS DIG Official Website https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/ ▼Please subscribe to our channel! / @tbsnewsdig ▼Information provided by "TBS Insiders" https://www.tbs.co.jp/news_sp/tbs-ins... ▼Video provided by "TBS Scoop Submission" https://www.tbs.co.jp/news_sp/toukou....