On July 28, 2025, the Japan Association of New Economy (JANE. Location: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Mickey Mikitani) attended the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) “Working Group on New Approaches to Evaluation for Improving the Quality of Education and Learning (5th Meeting)” (hereinafter referred to as the WG) and delivered comments on the Certified Evaluation and Accreditation (CEA) system for higher education institutions (universities, etc.).

The key points of JANE’s comments are as follows:

1. Recognition of the Current Evaluation System
   •As some higher education institutions are not functioning effectively under the current system, and education must adapt to changes in the socio-economic structure, reviewing the evaluation framework to further enhance the quality of education and learning is essential.

2. Desired Approach to Third-Party Evaluation (CEA)
   • In addition to ensuring the quality of higher education institutions, the purpose of CEA should also explicitly include promoting quality enhancement. Institutions that actively undertake efforts to improve quality should be highly evaluated, and the government should provide appropriate support based on the assessment results.
   • JANE has consistently emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship education as essential for creating new value by combining existing resources and ideas, and it is desirable that such education be promoted through the CEA system.

3. Expectations for the New Evaluation System
   • The units of evaluation should be subdivided from the current institution-wide level to departments, graduate schools, and other academic units. Moreover, instead of a simple pass/fail judgment, the evaluation should present the quality of education in a multi-tiered manner, using both qualitative and quantitative measures.
   • A framework should be established that utilizes the expertise of the business community and promotes collaboration with industry, such as creating a forum—including a permanent body—that brings together higher education institutions, evaluation bodies, and the business community, and building mechanisms that incorporate business community perspectives into evaluation framework.

Please click here for full JANE’s presentation materials and here for the WG meeting records (Japanese only)
JANE will continue to engage in dialogue with stakeholders to advance educational reform* aimed at driving transformation in Japan’s industry and society.
*For JANE’s “Policy Proposals for Realizing Next-Generation Education” released on July 29, 2025, please click here.