Running Head: STATUS OF EDUCATION IN JAPAN 1

Status of Education in Japan

Sarah Hall

Arizona State University

March 29, 2017

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In September 2012, the United Nations Secretary-General launched the five-year Global

Education First Initiative (GEFI) to accelerate progress towards the Education for all goals and

the education-related Millennium Development Goals. (About | United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2017.) The GEFI has three main priorities, or goals, that it

would like to achieve on a global standard. These goals are as follows: putting every child in

school, improve the quality of learning, and fostering global citizenship. Japan takes its

education very seriously and has been working to improve these objectives since before the

GEFI was made.

Following World War II, the Japanese educational system was reformed. Their education

system went from the old 6-5-3-3 system was changed to a 6-3-3-4 system (6 years of

elementary school, 3 years of junior high school, 3 years of senior high school and 4 years of

University) with reference to the American system. (The Japanese Education System, 2017.)

Various other western ideas were woven into the design for a whole new education system for

Japan that was heavily influenced by Japanese values. Since then, Japan has been placed either at

or near the top when compared to national student achievement. Japan is well known for their

curriculum and take their education very seriously. Education is a top priority in Japan and,

therefore, any child that has their sixth birthday on or before April first will be enrolled for their

first year of schooling. The cost of education in Japan is reasonably priced as well, which is why

Japan has a net enrollment rate of 99.95% as of 2013. (Refer to figure 1.)
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Figure 1:

This chart shows the

percentage of net
enrollment rate for
primary school in Japan
for both sexes. As you can
see the chart is fairly
steady at the top with a
high 90s percentage of
enrollment. The only
major dip happened
before the 1970s when the
percentage dropped
slightly below 97.5%.

Figure 2:
This image shows the set-up of how the
education levels are separated in Japan.
This shows the age that the children are
in each grade and what grade qualifies
for which level of education.
Compared to Americas education,
where our high school is 9th-12th grade,
Japans high school grade level is 10th
12th.

As for the quality of learning, Japans schooling system is very competitive and they take

pride in being the best. Access to opportunity is based highly on achievement through scores on

exams. However, achievement in Japan is not seen as the result of inherited and unalterable

intelligence, but rather as the result of effort. (Japan Overview, 2017.) If a student fails, that
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failure is perceived as not only the failure of the student but also of that students parents

(especially the mother) and teachers. (Japan Overview, 2017). Therefore, in order to win the

approval and acceptance from their family and teachers, Japanese students take tough classes and

work very hard in school. Along with this, Japanese students do not skip grades or get held back.

All Japanese students are expected to master the demanding curriculum that is taught to them by

their teachers. As for their teachers, teaching is seen as a desirable occupation in Japan and are

the highest paid civil servants in Japan. (Japan Overview, 2017.) The teachers, in order to bring

the quality needed to the students, are expected to master the subjects that they will teach and

usually have a full year of apprenticeship under a master teacher as they continue to learn. While

Japan spends less than what other nations spend on their schools and keep administration to a

minimum, this does not affect the quality of learning of the students as they are getting the best

of what they can be offered.

The final priority of the GEFI is fostering global citizenship. One way Japan does this is

through teacher qualification renewal systems. As mentioned before, Japan is very competitive in

their education as they strive to be the best. Young Japanese are often expected to know more

about another countrys history, economy, and geography than the students in that country know.

Therefore, in order for the students to know this, the teachers in Japan must be confident in what

they teach and constantly be up to date about events in other countries that they teach to ensure

that their students succeed. Another way Japan fosters global citizenship is teaching strong

teamwork. Compared to countries like the United States, where everything in school is

individualized to a specific persons achievement, Japan has a collective approach. Japanese

students who are ahead in the classroom are expected to tutor and help those who are behind. By

teaching the material to their peers, students learn the material better and also learn a sense of
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teamwork as they work to support each other. As mentioned earlier, Japanese students want to

win the approval of their teachers and make their teachers look good to the school. Therefore, the

students are constantly working collectively to ensure that all of their peers are doing just as

good as everyone else.

Overall, Japan seems to be doing a great job at working towards the

GEFI goals. All three of the priorities seem to be being achieved through

Japans education system. Japan takes their education very seriously,

therefore, it is not surprising that these goals have already been integrated

into their education systems.

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References

About | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.).

Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/gefi/about/

Abe, N. (n.d.). The Japanese Education System. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-japanese-education-system-2028111

Fostering Global Citizenship | News & Analysis - Fostering Global Citizenship | News &

Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.fostering-

globalcitizenship.net/index.php/component/content/article/2-news/163-global-citizenship-

gradual-unfolding-of-a-new-concept

Japan Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://ncee.org/what-we-

do/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/japan-overview/

Japanese school system | Tokyo International Communication Committee. (n.d.).

Retrieved March 29, 2017, from https://www.tokyo-icc.jp/guide_eng/educ/01.html

Kids Web Japan. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://web-

japan.org/kidsweb/explore/calendar/april/schoolyear.html

Net enrolment rate, primary, both sexes (%). (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2017, from

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.NENR?locations=JP&view=chart