A distinctive response to COVID-19 in higher education

Compared to the United States, the United Kingdom and many European countries, Japan’s government appears to have imposed more restrictive regulations on higher education institutions.

However, the operation of Japan’s higher education institutions is also largely affected by market forces, given that nearly 80% of Japan’s higher education institutions are private universities and colleges and that all national universities and the vast majority of local public universities have become corporations since 2004.

This has made Japan’s experience and response to the pandemic’s effects on higher education different from those in the US and the UK or in centrally controlled countries such as China.

According to an end-of-October report issued by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan responded to COVID-19 in two main ways in line with the changing development of the pandemic.

It has taken preventive measures to stem infection spread, such as early detection and strategic (geographically targeted) PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests in order to safeguard the health system; and it has adopted measures related to infection spread, such as focused enforcement of the Special Measures Law to protect the health service.

You can read the full blog post at University World News.