G7: Economic admin is central - Furuyama

(ANSA) - Udine, June 29 - Professor Masao Furuyama, president of the Kyoto Institute of Technology, told the G7 University event in Udine Thursday that "the issue of the economic administration of universities is fundamental for our country". Taking part in the round table on 'University and Economic Development', Furuyama added: "I am extremely anxious to see how other universities around the world address the question". He said this was a particularly important issue in Japan because of falling student numbers. "Our country's university population is rapidly decreasing and so it has to confront the need to build a new model, better suited to the current conformation of society," Furuyama said. "Up to now we have witnessed a proliferation of universities in Japan, but with these falling numbers, we find ourselves having to think about how to attract students from abroad to our universities, not just from Asia, but also from the rest of the world. "The dimensional model should be rethought and it is necessary to review the organization too," he concluded. "Quantity is not always the solution, sometimes in the university system 'less is more,' so the right scale is the secret to sustainability and success".