Education in Japan
• School year in Japan begins in April. Lessons run from Monday to Friday or Saturday, depending on the school. Academic year consists of three terms, each separated by small holidays in spring and winter, and rest of a duration of one month in the summer. • The school system consists of: • primary school - 6 years • secondary school - 3 years • senior school -3 years • Elementary and secondary school are required. High school, although this is not mandatory, close about 94 % of Japanese students.
Japanese school uniform • The Japanese school uniform is modeled on European-style naval uniforms and was first used in Japan in the late 19 th century. Today, school uniforms are common in many of the Japanese public and private school systems. The Japanese word for this type of uniform is seifuku • History An official from Tombow Co. , a manufacturer of the Sailor Fuku (Sailor outfits), said that the Japanese took the idea from scaled down sailor suits worn by children of royal European families. The official said "In Japan, they were probably seen as adorable Western-style children’s outfits, rather than navy gear. " Sailor suits were adopted in Japan for girls because the uniforms were easy to sew. The sides of the uniform had similarity to existing styles of Japanese dressmaking, and the collar had straight lines. Many home economics classes in Japan up until the 1950 s gave sewing sailor outfits as assignments. Girls sewed sailor outfits for younger children in their communities. • In the 1980 s sukeban gangs began modifying uniforms by making skirts longer and shortening the tops, and so schools began switching to blazer style uniforms to try to combat the effect. As of 2012, 50% of Japanese junior high schools and 20% of senior high schools use sailor suit uniforms. • The Asahi Shimbun stated in 2012 that "The sailor suit is changing from adorable and cute, a look that 'appeals to the boys, ' to a uniform that 'girls like to wear for themselves. '" As of that year, contemporary sailor suits have front closures with zippers or snaps and more constructed bodices. The Asahi Shimbun stated that «The form is snug to enhance the figure—the small collar helps the head look smaller, for better balance".
Usage • After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the methods and structures of Western learning were adopted as a means to make Japan a strong, modern nation. Students and even highranking government officials were sent abroad to study, such as the Iwakura mission. Foreign scholars, the so-called o-yatoi gaikokujin, were invited to teach at newly founded universities and military academies. Compulsory education was introduced, mainly after the Prussian model. By 1890, only 20 years after the resumption of full international relations, Japan discontinued employment of the foreign consultants. • A modern concept of childhood emerged in Japan after 1850 as part of its engagement with the West. Meiji period leaders decided the nation-state had the primary role in mobilizing individuals - and children - in service of the state. The Western-style school was introduced as the agent to reach that goal. By the 1890 s, schools were generating new sensibilities regarding childhood. After 1890 Japan had numerous reformers, child experts, magazine editors, and well-educated mothers who bought into the new sensibility. They taught the upper middle class a model of childhood that included children having their own space where they read children's books, played with educational toys and, especially, devoted enormous time to school homework. These ideas rapidly disseminated through all social classes.
Gakuran • The gakuran or the tsume-eri are the uniforms for many middle school and high school boys in Japan. The color is normally black, but some schools use navy and dark blue as well. • The top has a standing collar buttoning down from top-to-bottom. Buttons are usually decorated with the school emblem to show respect to the school. Pants are straight leg and a black or dark-colored belt is worn with them. Boys usually wear penny loafers or sneakers with this uniform. Some schools may require the students to wear collar-pins representing the school and/or class rank. • The second button from the top of a male's uniform is often given away to a female he is in love with, and is considered a way of confession. The second button is the one closest to the heart and is said to contain the emotions from all three years attendance at the school. This practice was apparently made popular by a scene in a novel by Taijun Takeda. • Traditionally, the gakuran is also worn along with a matching (usually black) student cap, although this custom is less common in modern times. • The gakuran is derived from French Army uniforms. [4] The term is a combination of gaku meaning "study" or "student", and ran meaning the Netherlands or, historically in Japan, the West in general; thus, gakuran translates as "Western student (uniform)". Such clothing was also worn by school children in South Korea and pre-1949 China.
Sailor Fuku • The Sailor Fuku is a common style of uniform worn by female middle school students, traditionally by high school students, and occasionally, elementary school students. It was introduced as a school uniform in 1920 in Heian Jogakuin and 1921 by the principal of Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University, Elizabeth Lee. It was modeled after the uniform used by the British Royal Navy at the time, which Lee had experienced as an exchange student in the United Kingdom. • Much like the male uniform, the gakuran, the sailor outfits bears a similarity to various military styled naval uniforms. The uniform generally consists of a blouse attached with a sailor-style collar and a pleated skirt. There are seasonal variations for summer and winter: sleeve length and fabric are adjusted accordingly. A ribbon is tied in the front and laced through a loop attached to the blouse. Several variations on the ribbon include neckties, bolo ties, neckerchiefs, and bows. Common colors are navy blue, white, grey, light green and black. • Shoes, socks, and other accessories are sometimes included as part of the uniform. These socks are typically navy or white. The shoes are typically brown or black penny loafers. Although not part of the prescribed uniform, alternate forms of legwear (such as loose socks, knee-length stockings, or similar) are also commonly matched by more fashionable girls with their sailor outfits. • The sailor uniform today is generally associated with junior high schools. A majority (though by no means all) high schools having changed to more western style plaid skirts or blazers. A large part of the motivation for this change was as a response to the fetishisation of the sailor outfits as well as the desire of modern high school students to differentiate themselves in a more grown up way to junior high students.
School grades • The school year in Japan begins in April and classes are held from Monday to either Friday or Saturday, depending on the school. The school year consists of two or three terms, which are separated by short holidays in spring and winter, and a six week long summer break. The year structure is summarized in the table below.
Junior high school • The lower secondary school covers grades seven, eight, and nine, and children between the ages of roughly 12 and 15, with increased focus on academic studies. Although it is still possible to leave the formal education system after completing junior high school and find employment, fewer than 4% did so by the late 1980 s. • Like elementary schools, most junior high schools in the 1980 s were public, but 5% were private. Private schools were costly, averaging 558, 592 yen (US$3, 989) per student in 1988, about four times more than the 130, 828 yen (US$934) that the ministry estimated as the cost for students enrolled in public junior high school. • Teachers often majored in the subjects they taught, and more than 80% graduated from a four-year college. Classes are large, with thirty-eight students per class on average, and each class is assigned a homeroom teacher who doubles as counselor. Unlike elementary students, junior high school students have different teachers for different subjects. The teacher, however, rather than the students, moves to a new room for each fifty or forty-five minute period.
• Instruction in junior high schools tends to rely on the lecture method. Teachers also use other media, such as television and radio, and there is some laboratory work. By 1989 about 45% of all public junior high schools had computers, including schools that used them only for administrative purposes. All course contents are specified in the Course of Study for Lower-Secondary Schools. Some subjects, such as Japanese language and mathematics, are coordinated with the elementary curriculum. Others, such as foreign-language study, begin at this level, though from April 2011 English became a compulsory part of the elementary school curriculum. [citation needed] The junior school curriculum covers Japanese language, social studies, mathematics, science, music, fine arts, health, and physical education. All students are also exposed to industrial arts and homemaking. Moral education and special activities continue to receive attention. Most students also participate in one of a range of school clubs that occupy them until around 6 pm most weekdays (including weekends and often before school as well), as part of an effort to address juvenile delinquency • A growing number of junior high school students also attend juku, private extracurricular study schools, in the evenings and on weekends. A focus by students upon these other studies and the increasingly structured demands upon students' time have been criticized by teachers and in the media for contributing to a decline in classroom standards and student performance in recent years • The ministry recognizes a need to improve the teaching of all foreign languages, especially English. To improve instruction in spoken English, the government invites many young native speakers of English to Japan to serve as assistants to school boards and prefectures under its Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. Beginning with 848 participants in 1987, the program grew to a high of 6, 273 participants in 2002. The program was in a decline in recent years due to several factors, including shrinking local school budgets funding the program, as well as an increasing number of school boards hiring their foreign native speakers directly or through lower-paying, private agencies. Today, the program is again growing due to English becoming a compulsory part of the elementary school curriculum in 2011.
High school • Even though upper-secondary school is not compulsory in Japan, 94% of all junior high school graduates entered high schools as of 2005. Private upper-secondary schools account for about 55% of all upper-secondary schools, and neither public nor private schools are free. The Ministry of Education estimated that annual family expenses for the education of a child in a public upper-secondary school were about 300, 000 yen (US$2, 142) in the 1980 s and that private upper-secondary schools were about twice as expensive. • The most common type of upper-secondary school has a full-time, general program that offered academic courses for students preparing for higher education as well as technical and vocational courses for students expecting to find employment after graduation. More than 70% of upper-secondary school students were enrolled in the general academic program in the late 1980 s. A small number of schools offer part-time programs, evening courses, or correspondence education. • The first-year programs for students in both academic and commercial courses are similar. They include basic academic courses, such as Japanese language, English, mathematics, and science. In upper-secondary school, differences in ability are first publicly acknowledged, and course content and course selection are far more individualized in the second year. However, there is a core of academic material throughout all programs.
• Vocational-technical programs includes several hundred specialized courses, such as information processing, navigation, fish farming, business English, and ceramics. Business and industrial courses are the most popular, accounting for 72% of all students in full-time vocational programs in 1989. • Most upper-secondary teachers are university graduates. Upper-secondary schools are organized into departments, and teachers specialize in their major fields although they teach a variety of courses within their disciplines. Teaching depends largely on the lecture system, with the main goal of covering the very demanding curriculum in the time allotted. Approach and subject coverage tends to be uniform, at least in the public schools. • Training of disabled students, particularly at the upper-secondary level, emphasizes vocational education to enable students to be as independent as possible within society. Vocational training varies considerably depending on the student's disability, but the options are limited for some. It is clear that the government is aware of the necessity of broadening the range of possibilities for these students. Advancement to higher education is also a goal of the government, and it struggles to have institutions of higher learning accept more students with disabilities.
Universities and Colleges • As of 2010, more than 2. 8 million students were enrolled in 778 universities. At the top of the higher education structure, these institutions provide a four-year training leading to a bachelor's degree, and some offer six-year programs leading to a professional degree. There are two types of public four-year colleges: the 86 national universities (including the Open University of Japan) and the 95 local public universities, founded by prefectures and municipalities. The 597 remaining four-year colleges in 2010 were private. • The overwhelming majority of college students attend full-time day programs. In 1990 the most popular courses, enrolling almost 40 percent of all undergraduate students, were in the social sciences, including business, law, and accounting. Other popular subjects were engineering (19 percent), the humanities (15 percent), and education (7 percent). • The average costs (tuition, fees, and living expenses) for a year of higher education in 1986 were 1. 4 million yen (US$10, 000). To help defray expenses, students frequently work part-time or borrow money through the government-supported Japan Scholarship Association. Assistance is also offered by local governments, nonprofit corporations, and other institutions. • According to The Times Higher Education Supplement and École des Mines de Paris, the top-ranking universities in Japan are the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Keio University and Waseda University. • The QS Asia University Rankings Top 20 included University of Tokyo at 5 th position, Osaka University at 7 th, Kyoto University at 8 th, Tohoku University at 9 th, Nagoya University at 10 th, Tokyo Institute of Technology at 11 th, Kyushu University at 17 th and University of Tsukuba at 20 th. [14] • Based on 2011 Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings, there are 33 Japanese Universities in the top 100 Asian University Rankings.
Questions • How many percent of the students graduate from high school? • how many semesters in the Japanese school year? • how many classes in Elementary school? • How many private high schools in Japan? • What schools are mandatory ? • When are Japan holidays?
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