INCA Education around the world
INCA Summary Profile - Education in Japan
1. Control and organisation
Administration of education is shared between national and local government at prefectural (upper tier of local government) and municipal levels but the educational agencies are independent of each other. All have roles to play in the (hierarchical) administration of the education system and policy making is on a consensus basis. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) formulates national education policy and the curriculum; administers public schools; establishes national educational standards; sets salary scales for teaching staff; and establishes supervisory services. Responsibility for school budgets, specific educational programmes, school appointments and the supervision of schools, however, lies in the hands of local boards of education.
2. Public sector/private sector education
There is considerable private provision in Japan and the private sector receives considerable public subsidy. Private schools in Japan generally have the same curriculum as public schools, although private schools may include religious education in their curriculum. Private sector education is most prominent in pre- and post-compulsory education (79.1 per cent of kindergartens; 91 per cent of junior colleges and 73.5 per cent of universities ), whilst the majority of compulsory education is in the public sector.
3. Language of instruction
The official language by custom and practice is Japanese, which is the language of instruction.
4. Compulsory education
There are nine years of compulsory education for students aged 6 - 15. The education system consists of three years of pre-compulsory education (kindergarten) (3- to 6-year-olds), six years of primary (elementary school) education (6-12 years), three years of lower secondary (junior high school) education (aged 12-15) and three years of upper secondary education (senior high school) (15- to 18-year-olds).
5. Pre-compulsory education
The majority of pre-compulsory kindergarten education is provided by the private sector. There is a national curriculum for this phase which takes the form of broad guidelines for the objectives and standard content of the curriculum specified as a "Course of Study". The overall aim is, through play, to promote intellectual development and qualities of self-reliance and awareness of others. Children are expected to be able to read and do simple sums involving addition and subtraction by the time they leave kindergarten (age 6). However, children are not required to have academic abilities, such as reading, writing and arithmetic before they start compulsory education. Kindergartens also attempt to develop the more general intellectual skills of thinking, observation, learning and general intelligence as reflected in the National Curriculum Standards for Kindergartens which focus on: health, human relationships, the environment, language, and expression.
6. Post-compulsory education
Lower secondary education is the final stage of compulsory schooling and caters for students between the ages of 12 and 15 years. Students who have completed the three-year lower secondary course are entitled to apply to upper secondary schools or colleges of technology. There are three types of upper secondary school course: full-time, part-time and correspondence courses. Full-time courses last three years, while part-time and correspondence courses last three years or more. Part-time courses are mainly offered in the evenings.
7. Special needs education
In accordance with the type and degree of disability, capacity and aptitude of each child, education is either provided in special schools or in special classes and resource rooms (sometimes also known as "supplementary courses") in normal, mainstream elementary schools (students aged 6-12) and lower secondary/junior high schools (students aged 12 -15). There are various types of special school. These are usually divided into schools for the blind and partially sighted, schools for the deaf and hard of hearing, and schools for the otherwise handicapped. In 1999, around one per cent of all students were on the 'Special Schooling Register'. Around 0.8 per cent of the total number of students of compulsory primary and secondary school age (6-15) was attending a special school. In the same year, students attending special classes within mainstream education totalled around 0.6 per cent of the total number of children attending mainstream elementary schools. The curriculum is flexible and formulated in accordance with individual need, and also provides students with "educational therapeutic activities". It also usually takes account of the comparable curriculum in mainstream schools at the appropriate level of education.
8. School year
The school year consists of at least 35 weeks (34 weeks in Year 1, age 6-7). Minimum hours of instruction vary from 17 to 20 hours each week (dependent on the age of the children). The school year commences on April 1 and ends on 31 March of the following year (with holidays in summer, winter and spring) and is divided into three terms which run approximately from the following dates:
· Term 1: from April to July, followed by the long summer (August) vacation
· Term 2: September to December (followed by a shorter, winter vacation)
· Term 3: January to March (followed by a short spring vacation).
9. Statutory curricula
There is a statutory curriculum for children during the pre-, post- and compulsory phases. The statutory curriculum during the compulsory phase in Japanese schools (both private and public) includes: Japanese language; mathematics; social studies; science; moral education (includes moral character education and social relationships); music; art; health and physical education; industrial arts and homemaking (home economics and family life); foreign languages; geography and history; civics; and, recently introduced, integrated studies. The latter introduces experiential learning such as experiences in nature, social life experiences, observation, experiments, field study and investigation and project work, as well as learning by problem-solving to assist children in learning about cross-curricular subjects such as the environment, international understanding (includes the learning of foreign languages as well as foreign cultures), information, health and welfare and other subjects of particular interest to individual children.
10. Religious education
Private schools may include religious education in their curriculum; publicly-funded schools may not.
11. Citizenship education, personal, social and health education, work-related education or careers education
Moral education (includes moral character education and social relationships) is included within the statutory curriculum in compulsory phase education. Civics (includes contemporary society, politics and economics, and ethics) is taught in the post-compulsory phase (15-18 years old), and human relationships in the pre-compulsory phase (3-6 years old). Health is taught from pre- to post-compulsory education.
12. Textbooks
School textbooks serve as the main instructional material in the classroom. In accordance with the provisions of the School Education Law, all schools in Japan are required to use textbooks in the classroom teaching of each subject. The content of the Course of Study is faithfully reflected in textbooks, teachers' manuals and programmes of work in each school. Ministry-approved textbooks are provided free (by central government) in all compulsory schools (whether publicly or privately funded). All students in compulsory primary and lower secondary education (that is, in elementary schools and junior high schools) are given (by central government) a complete set of new textbooks at the beginning of each school year, no matter whether they are being educated in Japan or in another country. These books are the students' own property. Post-compulsory upper secondary school students have to buy their own textbooks.
13. Statutory system of assessment
There are no national assessment schemes. Individual institutions arrange assessment which takes place at the end of lower secondary education (the record of which may influence entry to senior high school) and at the end of upper secondary education, when a Certificate of Upper Secondary Education is issued by each institution. This Certificate is just one of the requirements for entry to higher education.
Continuous teacher assessment is common, however. Students are frequently assessed in class (particularly in Japanese and mathematics) either by teacher-devised or ready-made tests.
14. Examinations and certification
There is also no external examination scheme in Japan. Promotion and certification of completion are made on the basis of internal teacher assessment. Year-to-year promotion in compulsory education is practically automatic.
15. Initial teacher training
Teachers are required to have relevant teacher certificates issued according to the Education Personnel Certification Law (Principle of Certification). Teacher training in Japan is provided in general universities, colleges and in teacher training colleges. There are three types of certificates; regular, special and temporary, issued by the prefectural board of education. Regular certificates (effective in all prefectures throughout the holder's life) are issued based on the prescribed number of credits for teaching and specialist subjects in addition to a basic qualification (e.g. a bachelor's degree). Special certification (valid for five to 10 years within the prefectures where they are issued) was established to introduce people working in areas other than schools to the teaching profession. Temporary certificates are issued only in cases where teachers holding regular certificates are difficult to recruit. Temporary certificates are effective for three years within the issuing prefectures. There are additional certificates for teachers in schools for the blind, deaf, and otherwise handicapped, kindergarten teachers, and school nurses.
