Correspondence Course Summer Schooling

2018/08/08

Keio University offers correspondence course programs in the Faculty of Letters, the Faculty of Economics (where students can also take subjects related to the Faculty of Business and Commerce), and the Faculty of Law.

This system of correspondence education was a new one that Japan adopted as part of its post-war educational reforms. Keio University decided from the outset to establish a correspondence course program and was involved from the very creation of the system itself. Within this framework, the concept of "schooling" was groundbreaking—a uniquely Japanese idea that did not exist at the time in countries like the United States, where correspondence education was popular. In the summer following the establishment of the "University Correspondence Education Standards" in December 1947, Keio University held the very first schooling session in Japan at its Mita Campus.

At the time, the schooling period was about one month in August. The timetable was divided into a first half of three weeks and a second half of three weeks (excluding Sundays), and attendance for the entire period was required. More than 600 students, the majority of whom were working adults, participated and spent a long, hot summer at the Mita Campus.

The courses offered included three liberal arts subjects—English, mathematics, and law. For specialized subjects, the Faculty of Letters offered ten subjects, including literature, history, philosophy, and sociology; the Faculty of Economics offered seven subjects, including the labor union movement, planned economy theory, and world economy theory; and the Faculty of Law offered six subjects, including civil law, commercial law, diplomatic history, and political history. In addition to lectures, there were also events such as multiple talks, plays, and music appreciation sessions, culminating in a farewell tea party. This tradition of events continues to this day, with lectures by faculty deans and the President, film screenings, and social gatherings that serve as opportunities for students and faculty to exchange opinions.

Now, while the schooling experience was a good opportunity for many students to appreciate the significance of higher education, the need to take a long leave of absence from their jobs was a concern for working students. To address this, the university has made improvements to the system—such as extending the length of a single class period, shortening the duration of sessions, and abolishing the annual cap on the number of credits that can be earned—all while taking into account the standards for establishing correspondence education. As a result, in 2011, a lecture system was implemented in which one class period is 150 minutes long, one term consists of six days including Sunday, and one course can be completed within a week.

Summer schooling, naturally, is held during the hot summer. While it is now common for classrooms to have air conditioning, it did not become widespread in Keio University classrooms until relatively late, around 1994. Initially, the percentage of air-conditioned classrooms was 40% at the Hiyoshi Campus and 15% at Mita. Even with efforts to increase the proportion of classes held in air-conditioned rooms during summer schooling—such as setting course enrollment numbers based on the capacity of those rooms—the rate at Mita was only about 27% (according to "Keio Tsushin," No. 557). I would like to pay tribute to the faculty and students of that era, who attended classes diligently in classrooms with all the windows open, with wet towels wrapped around their necks, holding down their lecture printouts to keep them from being blown away by the fans.

(Office of Correspondence Courses)