Perspective - (2021) Volume 9, Issue 4
Education in Japan
Vanitha Roy*
About the Study
Primary and secondary education in Japan is compulsory education. Most students go to public schools through high school, but private education is very popular at the high school and college levels. Kindergartens and nurseries provide preschool education. The curriculum for children ages 3-5 is similar to the kindergarten curriculum. Kindergarten education methods are quite different, from an unstructured environment that emphasizes games to a highly structured environment that focuses on allowing children to pass private elementary school entrance exams. The school year begins in April and ends in March, with summer break in August and winter break from late December to early January. The quality and performance of 4,444 Japanese students in reading, mathematics and science are among the best among OECD students. It is one of the OECD countries and has the best performance in reading, mathematics, and science abilities in the International Student Assessment Program. The average student score is 528.7 points, while the OECD average score is 493, ranking third in 2015 In the world ranking. The Japanese population is well-educated, and its society attaches great importance to education as a platform for socio-economic mobility and employment in the country’s hightech economy. The country’s large number of highly skilled and educated people contributed to Japan’s post-war economic growth to a large extent. Adults receiving higher education in Japan, especially graduates of science and engineering majors, derive economic and social benefits from their education and skills in the country's high-tech economy.
Education expenditure accounts for 4.1% of GDP, which is lower than the OECD average of 5%. Although the expenditure per student in Japan is relatively high, the total expenditure relative to GDP is still small. In 2017, the proportion of people aged 25 to 64 receiving higher education in the country was 51%, ranking third. In addition, 60.4% of 25-34-yearold Japanese have obtained some form of higher education, and 30.2% of 25-64-year-old Japanese have a bachelor's degree, which is the second highest OECD in the world, second only to South Korea. As the Japanese economy is mainly based on science and technology, the labor market requires people who have received some form of higher education, especially those related to science and engineering, to gain a competitive advantage in finding employment opportunities. According to data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 80.6% of 18-year-old Japanese have attended any higher education institution. Of these, 52.6% of students go to university, 4.7% to high school, and 0.9% to high school. Technical schools, the remaining 22.4% are enrolled in correspondence schools, Deir University or specialized training schools. In the decades after the end of World War II, the Japanese education system played a central role in Japan's recovery and rapid economic growth. Formal education in Japan began with the assimilation of Chinese culture in the 6th century AD. Teaching Buddhism and Confucianism, science, calligraphy, divination, and literature at the Asuka, Nara, and Heian courts. The scholarbureaucrats were selected through the imperial examination system. But unlike China, the system has never fully prevailed, and titles and positions in court remain hereditary family property. The rise of the samurai in the Kamakura period ended the influence of academic officials, but Buddhist temples remained influential centers of learning. In the Edo period, Edo Yushima Shodo was the main educational institution in the country, its leader was Daigakunokami, and this title confirmed the leader of the Tokugawa Shogunate Bureaucratic Training School.