Education

Education The basis of equality Cooperation and competition

during public school Fun and frustration at University Conformity and creativity

Education

• Does the education system enable equal opportunity and individual expression?

The basis of equality

A premodern foundation of literacy and numeracy

Pre-war establishment of universal primary education

Post-war extension of higher education and reduction of elitism

Cooperation and competition during public school

Learning knowledge and learning to be part of a group

Bullying (ijime) Multi-level competition to

get into schools Cram schools (juku and yobiko) to get ahead

University examination hell

Fun and frustration at University

Public versus private Forming new groups Graduation guarantee and

pre-graduation recruitment Professor indifference and

faculty system rigidity Government under-funding

Conformity and creativity Tremendous innovation,

less inventiveness Caused by intuitive rather

than analytic approach to understanding

Or, level of development Or School system: rote

learning, exam cramming, centralized curriculum, unchallenging universities, etc.

Education Reforms: Primary and Secondary

•For decades, creativity and fun were sacrificed, with the emphasis firmly on long hours and rote-learning that enabled Japanese pupils to score among the highest marks in international tests of scholastic ability.

•Under the reforms, which start today, the academic curriculum will be slashed by 20 to 30 per cent, students will be given more choice, and to the delight of video arcade owners and the horror of many parents, weekend classes will be abolished.

•The move towards yutori (comfortable) education will cut the amount of class hours for maths, science and languages by about 100 hours a year.

•Instead, pupils will be given more time for themselves and for community service in the hope that they will become more independent.

Education Reforms: Primary and Secondary

•"The reform is good, but it may backfire on public schools unless there are changes in private schools and university entrance exams," said Yuki Omae, a high-school teacher in Osaka. "When parents calculate how much they will have to spend on cram schools to get their children up to the standard required by universities, more and more will think that they might as well just pay for a private education."•The Government has tried to address fears of falling academic standards by introducing more homework, but students have other plans.•Asked how they plan to use their free Saturdays, 48 per cent of high-school students said they would sleep.

•But the need to nurture individuality and creativity, rather than the conformity of the past, is expected to grow as Japan moves away from mass production - an area where it is losing in competition to China - towards a post-industrial economy.

Examples of “reforms” in the new courses of study document put out by the Ministry of Education

"The multiplication of integers will be taught for numbers up to two digits. The multiplication of a three digit number by another three-digit number will not be covered."

"Calculations involving fractions are to be taken as far as the first decimal place. Calculations to the second decimal place and beyond will not be covered."

Education Reforms: UniversityJapan's national universities will become independent institutions with special legal status under the government's administrative reform program.

Develop professional schools in business and law.

Develop graduate programs as centers of excellence and evaluated by third parties on a competitive basis.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Growing number of Japanese youth choosing not to attend school or work

The number of Japanese youth lacking motivation to study or work has grown at an alarming pace, adding to fears of future labour shortages in a nation with one of the lowest birthrates in the world, officials said on Wednesday.

Some 850,000 people aged 15 to 34 are believed to be neither in school nor employed as of October, 2002, according to a national survey released on Tuesday by the Cabinet Office.

The number of such people - known as NEETS (not in education, employment or training) - has jumped 27 per cent from 670,000 in 1992, the office said.