Ducation in Japan Is Compulsory at The Elementary and Lower Secondary Levels

ducation in Japan is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels.
[5] Most students

attend public schools through the lower secondary level, but private education is popular at the
upper secondary and university levels. Education prior to elementary school is provided
at kindergartens and day-care centers. Public and private day-care centers take children from under
age 1 on up to 5 years old. The programmes for those children aged 3–5 resemble those at
kindergartens. The educational approach at kindergartens varies greatly from unstructured
environments that emphasize play to highly structured environments that are focused on having the
child pass the entrance exam at a private elementary school. The academic year starts from April
and ends in March, having summer vacation in August and winter vacation in the end of December
to the beginning of January. Also, there are few days of holidays between academic years. The
period of academic year is the same all through elementary level to higher education nationwide.
Japanese students consistently rank highly among OECD students in terms of quality and
performance in reading literacy, math, and sciences. The average student scored 540 in reading
literacy, maths and science in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
and the country has one of the world's highest-educated labour forces among OECD countries.[4] Its
populace is well educated and its society highly values education as a platform for social mobility
and for gaining employment in the country's high-tech economy. The country's large pool of highly
educated and skilled individuals is largely responsible for ushering Japan's post-war economic
growth. Tertiary-educated adults in Japan, particularly graduates in sciences and engineering,
benefit economically and socially from their education and skills in the country's high tech
economy.[6]
Spending on education as a proportion of GDP is below the OECD average. Although expenditure
per student is comparatively high in Japan, total expenditure relative to GDP remains small.[6] In
2015, Japan's public spending on education amounted to just 3.5 percent of its GDP, below
the OECD average of 4.7%.[7] In 2014, the country ranked fourth for the percentage of 25- to 64-
year-olds that have attained tertiary education with 48 percent. In addition, bachelor's degrees are
held by 59 percent of Japanese aged 25–34, the second most in the OECD after South Korea.[3] As
the Japanese economy is largely scientific and technological based, the labor market demands
people who have achieved some form of higher education, particularly related to science and
engineering in order to gain a competitive edge when searching for employment opportunities. About
75.9 percent of high school graduates attended a university, junior college, trade school, or
other higher education institution.[8]
Japan's education system played a central part in Japan's recovery and rapid economic growth in
the decades following the end of World War II. After World War II, the Fundamental Law of
Education and the School Education Law were enacted. The latter law defined the school system
that would be in effect for many decades: six years of elementary school, three years of junior high
school, three years of high school, and two or four years of university. Although Japan ranks highly
on the PISA tests, its educational system has been criticized in the US for its focus on standardized
testing and conformity;[9][10] bullying problems;[9][11][12] and its strong academic pressure on students.[13]
Contents
 1History
o 1.1Meiji Restoration
o 1.2Post-WWII
 2School grades
o 2.1Lower secondary school
o 2.2Upper secondary school
o 2.3Universities and colleges
 3Disability
o 3.1Government Intervention
o 3.2Reforms
 4Extracurricular activities
 5Criticisms
 6International education
 7See also
 8References
 9Further reading
 10External links
History[edit]
Main article: History of education in Japan
Terakoya for girls in the Edo period
Formal education in Japan began with the adoption of Chinese culture, in the 6th
century. Buddhist and Confucian teachings as well
as sciences, calligraphy, divination and literature were taught at the courts
of Asuka, Nara and Heian. Scholar officials were chosen through an Imperial examination system.
But contrary to China, the system never fully took hold and titles and posts at the court remained
hereditary family possessions. The rise of the bushi, the military class, during the Kamakura
period ended the influence of scholar officials, but Buddhist monasteries remained influential centers
of learning.
In the Edo period, the Yushima Seidō in Edo was the chief educational institution of the state; and at
its head was the Daigaku-no-kami, a title which identified the leader of the Tokugawa training school
for shogunate bureaucrats.[14]
Under the Tokugawa shogunate, the daimyō vied for power in the largely pacified country. Since
their influence could not be raised through war, they competed on the economic field. Their warrior-
turned-bureaucrat Samurai elite had to be educated not only in military strategy and the martial arts,
but also agriculture and accounting. Likewise, the wealthy merchant class needed education for their
daily business, and their wealth allowed them to be patrons of arts and science. But temple schools
(terakoya) educated peasants too, and it is estimated that at the end of the Edo period 50% of the
male and 20% of the female population possessed some degree of literacy. Even though contact
with foreign countries was restricted, books from China and Europe were eagerly imported
and Rangaku ("Dutch studies") became a popular area of scholarly interest.
There were facilities that were created to specifically educate samurai and their children to
perpetuate morality and mindfulness of their class. These schools, hanko schools, were where
scholars would bring together samurai to listen to lectures on Confucianism, military arts, and other
subjects. Samurai would then attempt to teach villagers what they had learned, “proper guidance to
the common people’s spirit and manners,” by posting flyers and creating handbooks,[15] Some
Shōgun and Daimyō were also interested in spreading education throughout their protected land
with the target audience as adult commoners and children. Elementary education was imparted as
well as writing and morality lessons. The Shirakawa Village School's town bulletin explains the point
of education for the commoners, "If not only the important people of the village but also the lesser
people have continuous teaching from the appointed village schools, they will gain understanding".[15]
'Commoners' would also form many communal gatherings to attempt and Englishmen themselves
with the help of a scholar. To name one, Baigan Ishida, who was a great orator and writer that
reached the outcropping of the merchant class. There were wakashu-gumi, or youth groups, that
consisted of young men ages fourteen to seventeen, who at these groups learned about
ceremonies, cooperative living, language, manners, marriage, straw weaving, and world information,
not to mention talking and singing. Japan was thriving with the want for enlightenment. One may say
the need for more education is one of the reasons why the Tokugawa Shogunate failed in 1868.[citation
needed]
Meiji Restoration

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ducation in Japan is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels.

[5] Most students

Terakoya for girls in the Edo period

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