The Best of the Bureau/The_Best_of_the_Bureau_Bureau_Development_Inc._1992.iso/dp/0033/00330.txt

Text File | 1992-08-07 | 33KB | 524 lines

$Unique_ID{bob00330}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Japan
Chapter 3B.   Elementary, Secondary and Higher Education}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Jane T. Griffin}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{schools
students
universities
school
education
student
university
private
system
secondary
see
pictures
see
figures
}
$Date{1981}
$Log{}
Title:       Japan
Book:        Japan, A Country Study
Author:      Jane T. Griffin
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1981

Chapter 3B.   Elementary, Secondary and Higher Education

     As more and more women reentered the work force following the birth of
children, the number of children in kindergarten has steadily risen. The
promotion of kindergarten education that began in 1971 was one of the major
innovations in the 1970s and provided that all four and five year olds be
enrolled in kindergartens by the beginning of the 1982 school year.

     Six years of elementary and three years of lower secondary schooling were
compulsory and free for all children between the ages of six and fifteen.
Enrollment at the compulsory education level has long been virtually 100
percent of this age group. The total number of students in Japanese schools
increased from 19.4 million in 1950 to 27.4 million in 1980.

     Nine subjects were offered in both the elementary and secondary
curricula, according to standards laid down by the Ministry of Education.
These included emphasis on studying the Japanese language, followed by
mathematics, social studies, science, music, arts, homemaking, and physical
education, plus morals training and special activities. In curriculum
revisions that took effect in 1980, it was decided to lay increased emphasis
on moral education. Private schools could teach religion rather than the
ministry-prescribed course in morals. Physical education was also encouraged,
especially traditional Japanese sports such as judo, kendo, and sumo. Another
change mandated by the ministry was to select more carefully teaching
materials that would foster the creative abilities of the children; critics
had claimed that children were expected to concentrate on factual
memorization. It was further decided to reduce the standard school hours for
most subjects so that local areas could adjust to their needs by giving more
time to certain subjects. The new curriculum was implemented after private
book publishers had compiled new textbooks to carry out these aims. Most of
these reforms were made in response to specific problems that developed in the
upper secondary school years in the 1970s, especially the unprecedented rise
in juvenile violence among the fourteen to eighteen year olds.

     In general under public school promotion policies, a child who had
attended school faithfully could expect to be passed on to the next grade
regardless of achievement. Nevertheless a growing number of children spent
their after-school hours attending tutoring schools if they were behind or
wanted more intense training, or else they went to special classes for skills
not offered in school. As of 1981 the revised rating system for school records
noted children's school performance, not only indicating their relative
position in the class but also for the extent of their attainment of a set
target in each subject.

     In 1979, as a result of a plan begun in 1972, all handicapped children
between the ages of six and fifteen, whether physically or mentally affected,
received compulsory free education. In 1980 a record 92,000 attended special
schools.

     The school year begins April 1, corresponding to the start of the fiscal
year, and is divided into three terms for a total of thirty-five weeks; April
to July, September to December, and January to March. The summer vacation may
vary locally because some rural schools grant spring and autumn vacations to
accommodate agricultural needs. All public schools are in session for five and
one-half days, Saturday afternoon and Sunday being free.

     The private sector at the elementary and secondary level in 1981 included
a few prestigious schools that were part of an integrated complex of
institutions, which in some cases extended through the university level.
Accredited private schools played a minor role at the compulsory education
level, where they accounted for about 2 percent of the institutions and an
equal proportion of the enrollment.

     In keeping with policy begun in 1975, government subsidies and loans were
made to private schools, including the elementary and lower secondary levels.
There were also private schools attended by children of foreign communities
taught in languages other than Japanese. The part of the Korean community that
supported the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) maintained
the largest number of these ethnic schools, including one on the college level
in Tokyo.

     In 1981 the level of general education had risen to the point where 60
percent of the entire working force had at least a high school education. By
the late 1970s a high school diploma had become for many students simply a
step toward higher education. High school students could take either the
general education course or the vocational course and study part-time or by
correspondence. Many students entered the general course for its prestige,
although they did not in fact plan to go on to college. Both general and
vocational students took certain prescribed courses in common such as Japanese
language, one foreign language, social studies, mathematics, science, and
health and physical education.

     In the 1970s students in the vocational courses felt neglected and
lacking in prestige, and student violence began to increase. Consequently in
1976 special schools were established for elite technical training, attracting
some 430,000 students in 1980. Funding for these schools and other special
schools, which were almost entirely private, has greatly increased since 1975.
Furthermore since 1962 technical colleges had provided a five-year course of
training to lower secondary school graduates. These schools produced a body of
highly qualified personnel who were quickly absorbed by industry. Some of
these technicians have risen to the apex of Japanese society, as for example
the president of the Honda Motor Company.

     In the late 1970s private institutions accounted for about 30 percent of
upper secondary enrollment, and their distinctive features and academic
traditions greatly enriched Japanese education. Since 1975 private upper
secondary schools have been receiving government subsidies, which reached 70
billion Yen in 1980. All high school students paid tuition, ranging in 1978
from about 36,000 Yen a year at national schools to more than five times that
figure for private schools. When one elite private school (Nada High in the
Kobe area) compiled an enviable record in the 1970s for the large number of
graduates it sent to the top universities, prefectural officials began to
upgrade public high schools in a variety of ways.

     The Ministry of Education established the basic curriculum framework for
all schools and prescribed the objectives and content of instruction. Local
governments and school boards had certain areas of discretion within the broad
framework to accommodate local needs. Revised courses for schools at all
levels were put into effect in the early 1980s.

     In 1981 upper secondary schools were urged by the Ministry of Education
to make wider allowance for individuality and initiative among students and to
diminish academic pressure. Schools were being criticized for producing
fact-filled robots totally lacking in creativity. Since the strong desire for
education led to an incessant grind of classes and cram schools, schools were
urged to reduce requirements without lowering standards so that students might
"lead a freer and more enjoyable school life." Such a policy, however, would
probably only encourage the growth of cram schools for students determined to
enter the elite academic track.