EDUCTIONAL SYSTEM IN JAPAN

The basic school system in Japan is composed of elementary school (lasting six years), middle
school (three years), high school (three years), and university (four years).

Education is compulsory only for the nine years of elementary and middle school, but 98% of
students go on to high school. Students usually have to take exams in order to enter high
schools and universities. Recently some middle and high schools have joined together to
form single, six-year schools.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Japanese children enter the first grade of elementary school in the April after their sixth
birthday.There are around 30 to 40 students in a typical elementary school class.

The subjects they study include Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, music,
crafts,physical education, and home economics (to learn simple cooking and sewing
skills).More and more elementary schools have started teaching English, too.Information
technology is increasingly being used to enhance education, and most schools have access to
the Internet.

Students also learn traditional Japanese arts, like calligraphy. This involves dipping a brush in
ink and using it to write characters that are used in several East Asian countries and have
their own meanings. They also learn a form of poetry (haiku) developed in Japan about 400
years ago, a short verse of 17 syllables, divided into units of five, seven and five syllables,
expressions which convey deep emotions to readers.

Life In Schools

In Japanese elementary schools, classes are divided into small teams for many activities. For
example, as part of their education, every day the students clean the classrooms, halls, and
yards of their school in these teams.
In many elementary schools, the students eat lunch together in their classrooms, enjoying
meals prepared by the school or by a local „school lunch center”. Small teams of students
take turns to serve lunch to their classmates. School lunches contain a rich variety of healthy
and nutritious foods, and students look forward with pleasure for lunchtime.

There are many school events during the year, such as sports day, when students compete in
events, excursions to historical sites, and arts and culture festivals.

Most elementary,middle and high schools require students to wear uniforms.

Almost all elementary and middle school students take part in an extracurricular club activity
of their choice, such as a sports team, a musical or arts group, or a science club. There are
very popular baseball clubs, soccer (footbal) clubs and judo clubs. Other popular sports clubs
include tennis, basketball, gymnastics and volleyball. In every sport, many games are held
between schools and students compete at the regional level ,too.

Among cultural clubs, one that has lately gained popularity is the GO club, very specific
Japanese. Other options for students include choir and arts clubs. Brass band, tea ceremony,
and flower arrangement clubs are also popular.

Elementary school pupils get homework nearly every day. They also get homework over
summer and winter vacations.

Vacations

Public elementary and middle schools are closed on national holidays, Saturdays, and
Sundays.

Japanese schools have three semesters, separated by vacations. At most schools, summer
vacation covers 40 days from July 20 to August 31, winter and spring vacations both last
around 10 days, from December 26 to around January 6, and from March 25 to around April
5. The new school year starts in April, at the end of spring vacation.

Time Of Classes

Japanese elementary and middle schools begin around eight thirty. Elementary school
students usually leave school at around three o’clock. But students in middle school, with
their extracurricular activities won’t leave school until around five o’clock.

Earthquakes
Japan is the country of earthquakes. If an earthquake strikes while they are in a classroom,
students learn to get under their desks, head first, and to hold on to the legs of the desk until
the quake is over. If a quake hits when the children are in the schoolyard, they are taught to
gather in the middle, away from the school building.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

From age 12, children proceed to middle schools, or junior high schools. Attendance for the
three years of junior high school education is compulsory. More than 90 percent of middle
schools are public. But 5-6 percent of students attend private schools.

For the most part, classes are not segregated based on ability, but some schools have classes
for mathematics and English.

The standard curriculum includes the following required subjects : Japanese language, social
studies, mathematics, science, a foreign language (almost always English), music, fine arts,
health and physical education, and industrial arts or homemaking. Requirements also
include extracurricular activities, a moral education course.

Preparation for high school entrance examinations is the main focus in middle schools. All
public middle school follow a standard national curriculum. The purpose of middle school
education is for „whole-person education”. „Whole-person education” emphasizes students’
physical and mental development. Each school helps students to get energy for life, to learn
and think independently, and to develop their knowledge, individuality, and creativity.

All children from seventh to ninth grade (ages 12-15) attend middle school after six years of
primary education.

There are public middle schools, 700 private middle schools, and 76 national middle schools
affiliated with national universities.

Every three or four years the teachers are rotated from one school to another in order to
maintain a consistent quality of instruction.

There is an average of 30 students per class, but the Ministry of Education announced that it
would limit class sizes for English, mathemetics and science to 20 students, asserting that
teachers are more attentive to individual students when classes are limited to less than 30
students.

Private Middle Schools

Private middle schools gain popularity among students in metropolitan areas because many
provide six-year elite education, and a fast track to a prestigious college. 5 percent of middle
schools have both middle and high school sections. In Tokyo about 21 percent of middle
schools have been merged with high schools.

Private middle schools offer a flexible curriculum meant to prepare students for college
examinations. And they send many of their graduates to selective universities.

Middle School Life

The classroom is the heart of middle school education. The students study, eat lunch, and
play in their classrooms. In contrast to American schools, in which the students change
classrooms at the end of each lesson, in Japanese schools the teachers go to the students’
classroom.But there are also special rooms for music, arts, crafts, home economics, the
computer lab, the gymnastics, the playground, and a science lab.

There are in each school small multi-purpose groups of six to seven students, who study, eat,
work and engage in planned activities together. The purpose of these groups is to build
group solidarity and cooperation. The groups also clean classrooms or hallways, they deliver
and serve school lunches, and eat lunch together. All students learn to cooperate with
others in the group and to take responsibility for the actions of everyone in the group.

After School Activities

After school, the majority of students participate in extracurricular clubs where they develop
their physical or artistic abilities, learning also group consciousness and responsibility. Thus
they join after-school athletic clubs, volunteer clubs and academic clubs (such as chemistry
or reading), meeting several times a week.

Volunteer services are also important and are considered to be a criterion for high school
admission. They consist of visits to nursing homes, special schools for disabled children and
homes for adults with disabilities.

There are also the middle schools called „juku”, private educational organizations, which
prepare atudents for the high school and college entrance examinations. These schools
employ many full-time and part-time teachers, and operate in urban areas. They provide
middle school students with supplementary lessons several times a week, in the afternoon.
HIGH SCHOOL

School in Japan is compulsory until 15 years, when middle school ends up.However 99
percent of graduates enroll in high school to continue their studies. Those enrolled in public
schools, do not pay registration or school material fees. Families pay secondary costs such as
meals and school trips.

Students wishing to go to high schools, or universities , must pass entrance exams. Many
students begin studying for these exams about two years before they get into the high
school.

Competition between students to enter high schools and universities, is so high that they
sometimes spend a majority of their time studying in order to get on the right track for the
right school.Sometimes students break down, burn out and drop out. Nowadays, though,
much is being done in the way of reshaping a school system that puts less pressure on
students.

In any case, Japanese society has strong educational values that have created a very
beautiful, intelligent society.

High school or secondary education in Japan is split into junior high schools, which cover the
seventh through ninth grade, and senior high schools, which cover grades ten through
twelve.

Junior High School

It covers grades seven, eight and nine. Most junior high schools are public schools, and 5
percent are private schools with a per-student cost that is four times higher than public
schools.

The minimum number of school days in a year is 210 in Japan, compared to 180 in the
United States. However, students typically attend school for 240 to 250 days a year. A
significant part of the school calendar is taken up by non-academic events such as sports
days and school trips.

Teachers often major in the subjects they teach. Each class is assigned a homeroom teacher
who doubles as counselor. Unlike elementary students, junior high school students have
different teachers for different subjects. The teachers usually move to a new classroom for
each 50-minute period. Usually students’ lunch is provided by the school itself.
Instruction tends to rely on the lecture method. Teachers also use other media, such as
television and radio, and there is some laboratory work. They also have all computers.

Classroom organization is still based on small work groups.

The curriculum covers Japanese language, English, social studies, mathematics, science,
music, fine arts, industrial arts, homemaking, health, physical education, and also moral
education and special activities receive much attention.

Senior High School

Upper-secondary school is not compulsory in Japan, nevertheless almost 94 percent of all

junior high school graduates enter high schools and over 95 percent students graduate
successfully compared to 89 in the United States.

To enter, students must take an entrance examination in Japanese, mathematics, science,

social studies, and English, or a test created by a private high school for that school alone. All
uper-secondary schools, private and public, are informally ranked based on their success in
placing graduates in Universities.

Success or failure on an entrance examination can influence a student’s future, since finding
a good job depends on the school attended.

High School Life

Students walk, ride bicycles,or take public transportation to school. It happens for students
to spend two or more hours each day on public transportation, while they sleep, study or
socialize. On the way to and from school, students behave very well, to protect the school
reputation. Some students are even required to leave seats free on buses and trains for
other passengers, to demonstrate consideration.

Each school has a unique uniform that makes its students easily identifiable to the public.

Every high school has lockers for students to exchange their street shoes for slippers.

High schools begin at 8:30 when teachers meet for a five-minute meeting. Students are 40 or
45 in each classroom. There are also special meetings that provide an opportunity for
teachers to concentrate on student guidance, during discussions and topics planned by
teachers and scheduled in advance for the entire school year. These meetings help students
develop greater awareness of themselves as high school students,encouraging them to
reflect on different topics, vacations,studies.
Regular classes begin at 8:45 am on Mondays,after a short meeting , and there are four
classes of 50 minutes each before lunch. Students stay in the same classroom but they go to
different classrooms for physical education, laboratory classes, or other specialized courses.

Most schools do not have their own cafeteria, students eating in their classrooms what they
bring in a box lunch (bento) from home, rice, fish, eggs, vegetables. After lunch, they have
two more classes.

All students participate then in a fifteen-minute cleaning the school, in groups of four and six
to clean the classrooms, corridors and school grounds.

After classes, students are free to attend extracurricular activities at sports clubs, culture
clubs, which they choose at the beginning of the year.

However most schools allow students to withdraw from club activities during their senior
year, to devote more time to prepare for university entrance examinations. Classroom
teachers work with students and their parents to discuss their admission prospects or career
plans.

In high schools, students range in age from 16 to 18 years old. Graduation is in the middle of
March to its end. The vast majority of students are 18 years old at graduation.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Like other developed countries, the basic requirement to be eligible to enter higher
education in Japan is 12 years of education. Broadly speaking, there are three types of higher
education institutions in Japan :

Specialist Schools

Specialist schools offer 2-year courses. The courses are typically vocational (hairdressing,

fashion, caring,different crafts, etc.); although there are schools that offer more generalist
courses such as business. Specialist schools are much easier to enter than universities, and
many accept students on the basis of submission materials alone (no interviews or entrance
admissions).Some also consider students who have not graduated from high-school and so
would not be eligible to enter universities, which are far more strict when it comes to entry
requirements. There are over 3,000 schools in Japan (around 350 in Tokyo) and over 90% of
these are private institutions.
Tuition fees vary depending on course, but they are the cheapest among the possibilities of
higher education. This is largely because they are 2-year courses versus 4-years for
university,but also the nature of the courses and the lack of facilities that students might
find in the larger campuses of universities, helps keep costs down.

Short term Universities

Short-term universities are similar to specialist schools (2-year courses) but less vocationally
focused (like universities, students will be required to study other subjects outside their
chosen one). There are around 400 short-term universities in Japan and in terms of cost they
are slightly more expensive (around 20%) than specialist schools.

Universities

Most students entering higher education will opt to go to university. For entry to the major
corporations and international companies, a degree from a respected university is a must.
There are around 800 universities in Japan, and they are of three types :

1. National

National universities are supported by the state and ultimately paid for by the tax payer.
They tend to be bigger institutions with a large budget. There are around 90 national
universities in Japan – the University of Tokyo and the University of Kyoto being the two
most famous. Being state-funded they are the cheapest in terms of tuition fees which total
approximately 5 million yen ($46,209) over the course of the 4 year study period.

2. Public

Public universities are run by the prefecture in which the university resides and are funded
by taxes from the citizens in that prefecture. They tend to be smaller institutions compared
to national universities, but the key difference is that students who live in that prefecture
pay less school fees than those that don’t. There are about 100 public universities in Japan.
Tuition fees levels are similar to national universities.

3. Private

Private universities do not receive state funding and are therefore more expensive than both
national universities and public universities. They tend to have better facilities and have their
unique characteristics. There are around 600 private universities in Japan and they account
for over 75% of student numbers. Keio University, Waseda University, and Sophia University
are three of the most famous. Private universities are the most expensive of the three
costing on average 7 million yen ($64,692) for humanities and 8 million yen ($73,934) for
science courses.
The majority of the higher educational institutions in Japan commence its academic year in
April to March of the next year. Each academic year is divided into two semesters: first
semester runs from April till September; second semester starts in October and ends in
March.

Most university programs are completed in four years, with the exception of medical, dental,
and veterinary which take six years.

In Japanese Universities, social sciences such as economics or politics happen to be the

foremost choices of students, followed by engineering and humanities fields of study.

Approximately 70% of students who graduate from high school go to higher education
studies, thereby making Japan one of the most educated nation in the world.

The Japanese higher education system is a very powerful tool for their national politics and
culture.

Japan’s educational system is in a top position in terms of quality and performance all over
the globe.