Japanese universities should start their academic year in September.
（第７回埼玉いなほカップ・第７回全国高校生英語ディベート大会論題）(2012)
Affirmative Constructive Speech
We of the affirmative side believe that Japanese universities should start their academic year in September.
Plan: Japanese universities should start their academic year in September.
Our plan will bring about the following advantages:
Advantage(メリット) 1: Promoting internationalization.
(a) Present Situation
In April, hundreds of thousands of seniors once again become freshmen. This is one typical scene in Japan; happy, smiling faces everywhere. However, when we take a look at other countries – most other countries in fact – we can see that there still are students that haven’t graduated. Then, we Japanese finally understand that starting the academic year in April is not really common with the world view.
Since our style of enrollment is different from that of other countries, we are losing chances to host exchange students. For example, even if students in the West graduated from their universities, they will have fewer opportunities to enter Japanese schools. This happens because students in Japan will have already started studying by the time foreigners enter Japanese universities. Ultimately, this enrollment problem is obstructing Japanese globalization from the inside.
This disparity also affects the ability of Japanese students to study overseas – when they return, they will be a semester behind their compatriots.
(b) Effect(Plan→AD（プランからメリットまでの発生過程）)
If our plan is adopted, we will be able to have more students from abroad. The more exchange students we have, the more globalized the schools become. The more globalized the schools become, the more effectively Japan will be able to compete in a globalized environment.
(c) Importance（メリットの重要性、深刻性）:
We assert that this advantage is very important. Nowadays, globalization has been one of the most discussed arguments around the world. The distance between cultures has become narrower than ever before. Therefore, how can we continue the spring enrollment process at universities? Should we hold on to ideas that go against the changing times? The answer is, to state the obvious, no.
If we can collect students from abroad, schools will gain and benefit from more gloablized views throughout their campuses. This will definitely benefit Japanese students in many ways:; knowledge, sharing ideas, and understanding other cultures, just to name a few. In return, Japanese students will have more chances to study abroad. Eventually, by having more foreign students, Japanese universities will become more internationalized.
Advantage(メリット) 2: Japanese universities applying to “the gap year.”
(a) Present Situation
Today, students graduate from high schools in March and will soon be admitted to universities. As such, college students don’t have enough time to do anything besides school-related preparation. Imagine you are a university student. What if you wanted to do some volunteer work? Even if you wanted to, you wouldn’t have the chance. The same problem applies to working part-time, taking a short break to recover from 12 years of formalized schooling, and traveling before you begin your rigorous studies.
Students’ opportunities are prematurely revoked by the spring-entrance tradition.
(b) Effect
By applying a gap year to Japanese universities, students will have more freedom before enrollment. If this comes true, they will be able to improve their skills to move on their own.
(c) Importance
After graduation from colleges, students (graduates) will become members of society. When this happens, they will have to work for companies, start families, and devote almost all of their time to being an adult.. They will eventually need the ability to think on their own to be a member of a group. As a result, they will need many skills to adapt before leaving school. Some would even say that you learn more during your first year on your own, after school, than you learn in all o fyour schooling combined. Relaity requires an entirely different skill set, one that can be honed through independence and opportunity. So, the question is, where do we acquire such skills? Where can we have such experiences? At school? At home? Perhaps in part, but not entirely. Both at school and at home, you need not communicate with people whom you have never met or don’t know very well. In this kind of environment, it is impossible for us to improve our social abilities.
Studying hard at school is obviously the most important thing to do, but at the same time, that is the bare minimum that companies require of new employees. The so-called “soft skills” are vital for corporate success, and can be gained most effectively through extra-curricular societal engagement.
As previously stated, if Japan were to start it’s undergraduate and graduate academic years in September, two advantages will surely occur:
First, more exhange students will come to Japan, and more Japanese students will be able to study abroad, thereby promoting globalization and internationalization at the university level, and allowing Jpaan to compete economically on a global scale in the future.
And second, with the adoption of a gap year, students will have more freedom and opportunity to hone vital skills that cannot be acquired at school.
We strongly believe that ignoring these advantages in favor of sticking to the comforts of tradition will hurt not only Japan’s students, but our future in this rapidly internationalizing world.
Thank you.
Negative Constructive Speech
We, the Negative side, strongly believe that Japanese universities should not start their academic year in September. Their plan will bring about two disadvantages.
<Disadvantage 1> Confusion of society
Present Situation:
Present situation is good. We don’t see or feel any problems with today’s semester system. At the moment, we start the school system in April and ends in March. Kindergarten, elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, vocational schools,
universities, and graduate schools, all kinds of schools follow today’s semester system. Job seekers from these schools start working in April, because the fiscal system for companies also starts in April and ends in March. So companies hire new
graduates in April today.
Process:
However, by their plan, only universities will start new academic year in September. Under today’s educational system, they can graduate in 4 years, so many of them can graduate on September in 4 years. But companies need new employees in April, because their fiscal system
doesn’t change and job seekers from other types of schools will still start working in April. University graduates will wait for 6 months again. Employment for university students will
be confusing.
Significance:
Job employment has been slightly recovering for the recent few years, but adopting their plan only mean there would be chaos in the Job employment. We will lose all the efforts or
promotion for the better employment by government. When students graduate, they would need to already find a company where they can work for and they will be a real contributing member of the
society.
<Disadvantage 2> Waste of time
Present situation:
Our present situation is at its best. After the school ends in March for senior high school students, they can already prepare for their next school step, which is the university. After senior high school, the students go straight to the universities or colleges to study without forgetting their knowledge and abilities. Actually, high school students are really looking forward to university life with their dream and hope. According to all Japan Parents Teachers association in 2012, about 65% of them have already decided their future job and they want to study in university.
Process:
However, by their plan, all students will have to wait for 6 months, even if they want to study in University. They will be idle and they will definitely forget the things they've learned in high school. For the motivated students, their plan is a waste of time. This gap year will be just an excuse to be lazy as well.
Significance:
There are more than 500,000 freshmen every year. We do not believe all of them need this kind of long vacation. As I said, 65% of the high school students have already decided
their future job such as a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, and professional athlete. Their plan will prevent motivated students from entering university. In the past, our grandparents
and parents didn't have this choice of gap year, but still they were able to know what they really wanted to do and they achieved safe society and second biggest economic power.