COLLEGES SUPPORT VOLUNTEERING:
Social Service Can Count Toward Final Degree

September 1, 1997

One of the striking consequences of the Kobe earthquake of January 1995 was the impetus it gave to voluntary service by students and other young people. That this was not a flash in the pan became evident after the recent oil spill on the Japan Sea coast, when many young people turned out to help in the cleanup effort. To underline their recognition of this trend, more universities are introducing volunteer activities within the framework of the credits system as part of their overall efforts to promote student interaction with society.

All-Round Development
Examples of this new thinking abound. From next academic year, the school of science and engineering at Waseda University will introduce volunteer work as "non-academic" course. There will be no lectures at all, and students will be able to choose where and how long to offer their services and what work to do. Each year, participants will submit an "activities report" and an essay clarifying what they gained from the experience. These will go to an evaluation body, whose assessments will be translated into credits good toward graduation requirements.

The university sees this as an important means of evaluating the broader personal development of the student. It also expects paybacks in purely practical terms: Voluntary service will enable engineering students to offer specialized input in the development of devices for the aged, for example.

In April the University Center of Kyoto, which operates a credit-transfer program among 43 of the city's public and private universities and junior colleges, began handling credits awarded to students participating in outside volunteer activities. This scheme mixing classes and social work is headed by an assistant professor of Ritsumeikan University. The hope is that hands-on experience will help students understand clearly the significance of volunteer activities for society and human relations.

Meanwhile, Asia University started a course in 1991 on the theory of volunteer work. Credits are given to students who attend at least two-thirds of the lectures, do at least 15 hours of volunteer work, and submit a report. Students choose where they serve, but the university recommends that they sign up with volunteering centers in their home areas. The professor in charge of this course says that it helps students who are interested in volunteering, but don't know how to set about it. Participants say that helping with child-minding or, say, visiting old people's homes brings home the true meaning of voluntary work. Some students continue the work even after obtaining their credits.

Internship System
According to the Ministry of Education, the number of national, local public, and private universities which have introduced volunteer activities into curricula had climbed to 100 in the 1996 academic year, an increase of 26 over the previous year, when statistics were first taken. At some colleges the course is required and at others it is optional, but the content is generally the same: a mix of classroom instruction and off-campus volunteer work assignments.

In the United States, the "internship" system has been rapidly and widely embraced. In this, students study while working within citizens' groups and like-minded organizations as part of their course. An example would be students of public health who serve as members of support groups for AIDS patients. The Kobe earthquake was one of the factors that nudged Japanese universities in this direction. Student volunteers and others from all over the country descended on Kobe to help victims.

And in January of this year, many braved the bitter winter to help fishing folk, many of whom were aged, with the cleanup work after a Russian tanker went down off the Japan Sea coast. These efforts have led to increased interest among the young in volunteerism, once an unfamiliar subject for them; society, too, is beginning to recognize the potential of their vitality. It is only natural for universities to encourage such interaction between students and society by incorporating it into courses.

Actually, volunteer groups say that with universities getting involved in the classroom and in the field, there ought to be more student interest in volunteering than there in fact is. But the decision to offer one's services should by tradition be a personal one. Raising awareness of volunteering in way that respects that fact is also an important part of the role of educators.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Japan Information Network