Comments on: On Pretending to Know About Education in Japan, pt. 3: Paying for It

By: Archana

Archana — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 08:48:47 +0000

the competition has been well established in countries like india – kids go to juku 5 days a week there. but school also starts and ends early. good schools cost money and free schools are for the poor but most of these people wont got to uni unless they are really good. uni is free though – so there’s that.

the competition didn’t exist in UK until the last 15 years or so. Kids as young as eight are pushed to study for state school entrance exams because your score determines grammar school entrance – which is the free equivalent to private school. so parents pay for 2-3 years of prep classes for these entrance exams so they dont have to pay for 7 years of private schooling. and going to a good school usually guarantees getting into a good uni – so many kids futures are decided at age 10-11 when the test is taken.

our uni fees are huge now (not compared to America but it used to be free in UK so we are pretty unhappy about paying £9k a year for fees alone). You would think it would discourage many people from going but, as the uni culture is fully established and most of the apprenticeship’s have been dismantled, the numbers are pretty much the same.

By: crocadillian

crocadillian — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:57:13 +0000

Thanks for your mini-series, it makes me almost thankful that my University education is heavily subsidized in the UK, and that education has been free up to that point. I say almost, because after my year the amount the government subsidized was reduced significantly, and the internet can teach anyone nearly anything faster than the educational system can, to the point where i’m wondering what my degree at the end will be for.

@kamo, i take offense to that comment, guess what I’m studying… e___e.

By: Alyssa Eatman

Alyssa Eatman — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:12:24 +0000

Definitely sheds some light on my understanding of this pretty complex system. It’s no wonder they have a population crisis- not enough young people! If I knew having a kid meant I would endure that, I’d skip outta town.

By: Alanna

Alanna — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:01:53 +0000

“Ironically, the students who are most disadvantaged academically are typically the most disadvantaged economically.”

Definitely not ironic.

By: Frotee

Frotee — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:40:01 +0000

Quite interesting – I knew the whole entrance exam business was messy, but I didn’t know it was this expensive!
I guess we are fairly privileged here in Germany as far as free education is concerned – it is actually a basic right protected by law. This means that from class 1 to 13 (which finishes with the Abitur, that high school diploma which qualifies you for university access), you won’t really need to pay anything for public schools (safe for a book here and there and the occasional school trip, but those costs are fairly neglectable and may even be covered by a ‘class cash box’ for really poor families). Heck, if you are lucky with regards to your way to school, the state will even pay for public transportation! (only up to class 10 though). Even Universities are basically free in many federal lands (there is merely a fee of ~ 200 Euro each semester covering, again, public transport for the whole semester as well as various administrative and activity related stuff), and there is a guaranteed form of state-owned credit (without interest, with a defined max amount of pay back) for people from a less wealthy background.
So there is ample opportunity for people from lower to middle class people to achieve a high degree through sheer motivation and effort (we still have a fairly low number of working class university students, but hey).

By: kamo

kamo — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 02:23:45 +0000

Blimey. I think I liked it better when we were married. If you promise you’ll give up the soaplands and pachinko I might even take you back, you lousy good-for-nothing SOB.

I’ve always been struck by the absence of streaming by ability within a school. This is always explained away as an effort to avoid stigmatising the students in the bottom set. I’ve never been able to square that with the fact that Senior Highs are basically just massive ability sets, and ones from which it’s impossible to move up or down. Not great for social mobility.

Your idea in Part 2 about everyone wanting to be cartoonists because they have to choose a path in JHS is interesting. Thing is, in the UK we start specalising then too. You study everything from 11-14, then choose 10 subject for the two years 15-16, then three from 17-18. There are no ‘majors’ in british unis, because you only read one subject. And it only takes three years, because in theory you’ve had a deeper education at school so don’t need so long to get up to speed. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it doesn’t lead to a country of wannabe game designers either.

Also coming from a country where private schools (which of course we call public schools) are meant to be the pinnicle of the educational experience, it’s very different to realise that in Japan the private schools are where you the kids who failed went. St Trinian’s made flesh.

A thoughtful little series, as ever. Keep up the good work.

By: muda-kun

muda-kun — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 03:51:42 +0000

By: François-Xavier Thomas

François-Xavier Thomas — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 07:33:56 +0000

Great posts, and great insight into the not-so-cool real japanese life.
It certainly made me think. In France, where I live, we have the chance to have a rather inexpensive school system : the state gives out lots of subsidies to schools and universities, and if you’re motivated, you can manage something. We have other issues with our education, but money is not usually too much trouble.

By: Didem Aydin

Didem Aydin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:35:34 +0000

What a great way to lay out the whole Japanese school system, and making everything so much easier to understand. Can’t wait for more intresting posts.