Education

in Japan

Highly centralized and is

administered by the Mombusho or Ministry of education

24 million students from

kindergarten through university

about ten percent going to the

university

one third go to private schools

rest are enrolled in the public school

system. (Abner, 2002)

The system gives us a

mental picture of obedient,

quiet school children

The 21st Century:

Environment, Economy and

society

“Japan’s educational system produces students who perform far better on international examinations than Americans do, and Japanese students are indisputably among the best in the world in solving mathematical equations…Youngsters are well behaved, envied around as law-abiding: Japan’s low crime rates are well known and widely envied around the world. But what is even civility; graffiti and vandalism are rare and school sports teams not only bow to each other before the game but rush over the opposing team’s stand after the game to pay their respect. ”

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A.Basic Education

B. Higher Education

The Japanese educational System is divided into five basic levels:

• Kindergarten

• Elementary school (six years)

• Lower secondary school (three years)

• Upper secondary school (three years)

• University (four years)

Preschools (yochien)

These are not official part of

the educational system

Prefectural boards license

teachers, appoint teachers to

public elementary and lower

secondary schools also license

preschools in their area

education is free and

compulsory for children

from 6-15 years

Lecture

students spend 243 days a

year in school

Standard curriculum includes

Japanese language

Social studies

Math

Science

Art

Music

Home economics

Physical education

Lower secondary

Grade seven, eight and nine

2/3’s of teacher compose of

Men

Class size average is 38

Periods are 50 minutes

Upper secondary

Offer academic, technical and

vocational programs

First year courses include

Japanese language

English

Science

Math

Ranked based on their success in

placing graduating students into

prestigious universities.

Vocational course

Information processing

Navigation

Fish farming

Ceramics

Business English

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80% of universities in Japan are private schools.

To enter a university the students have to take two exams:

first one is a national achievement test

second one given by the university itself which is highly competitive

Students who fail the test will take another year to study and prepare to take the test again. These students are called Ronin, which originally meant Samurai.

60% of the universities have graduate schools, but only 7% of university graduate gets master’s degree

At the doctorate level, students enrol in medical programs and the humanities.

Japanese education relies heavily upon examinations