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Cram schools, juku and yobiko, are two supplementary educational institutions in Japan that prepare students for university entrance examinations. Juku are aimed at elementary, junior high, and high school students, while yobiko are directed toward those students preparing specifically for the university entrance examination. In addition to these two supplementary institutions, the Tokyo area has approximately 200 to 300 "tutoring companies" that provide private tutors for students from elementary age to university level (Kubota 1994).
The term juku refers to a large and diverse group of private cram schools or preparatory schools located throughout the country. These schools function independently of the regular school system and usually operate after regular school hours and on weekends.
There are two types of juku, academic (gakushu juku) and nonacademic. The nonacademic are aimed more at younger students and offer a variety of classes for general enrichment in such areas as the arts, abacus, calligraphy, and piano. The academic juku, however, is the more prominent of the two and holds greater importance for students as they continue their education.
There are a variety of reasons why academic juku flourish in Japan. They supplement regular school instruction and enable many elementary and secondary students to keep pace with the demanding school curriculum, provide remedial instruction to help those who have fallen behind, and assist in preparing students for entrance examinations for junior high schools, high schools, and universities.
Depending on the student's needs, there are four different types of academic juku (Kubota 1994). The first type, the chugakko juken juku (junior high school entrance examination juku), prepares students to enter a private, high-caliber junior high school that requires an entrance examination for admission, by reviewing what was taught in elementary school and guiding students through practice entrance examinations.
The second type of juku prepares junior high school students for the high school entrance examination (koko juken juku). There are two types of these juku. The first type, nankan jyokyushi/kokuritsu koko juken juku, prepares students to enter prestigious private and national high schools. These juku cover the 3 years of junior high school material in 2 years, and then use the third year to prepare solely for the entrance examination. The second type of juku prepares students to enter public high schools (koritsu koko juken juku). These juku cover the same material that is covered in the junior high school but in a more expedient and comprehensive manner. They not only prepare students for the entrance examination, but also help them improve their school grades since greater emphasis is placed on grades in the high school admission process. There are also juku that offer both types of the preparation programs described above; these are called sogo shingaku juku.
The third type of juku (hoshu juku) provides remedial help to students who are falling behind in elementary and junior high school. These juku run approximately a month ahead of the regular school curriculum to prepare students for upcoming lessons. They also review current school material if deemed necessary.
The final type of juku (kobetsu shido juku) are designed for very small class sizes and concentrate on one particular subject. These juku teach one to five students and, depending on the students' needs and desires, focus on either helping students keep up with the regular school curriculum or preparing them for future lessons.
The percentage of students attending juku increases as students move through their compulsory education career. Enrollment is relatively equally divided between males and females, but students from larger populated cities show a much higher percentage of participation than those from rural areas. According to a survey conducted by Koseisho Jido Katei Kyoku [Child-Family Bureau, Ministry of Welfare] (1992, cited in Shimizu et al. 1993), 51.6 percent of the children from fifth grade to ninth grade attended juku (42.3 percent of fifth-graders; 47.9 percent of sixth-graders; 55.0 percent of seventh-graders; and 58.2 percent of ninth-graders). Percentages of high school students attending juku are not available, but it can be predicted on the basis of the Ministry of Welfare's report that the percentages decrease because approximately one-fourth of the high school students enter vocational courses and do not need to prepare for the university examination.
The cost of juku varies with the number of hours per week and the number of days a student attends during the various regular school breaks. The national average cost for supplementary education per year for elementary students, junior high school students, and high school students who were attending public schools in 1990 is summarized in table 1 (Monbusho 1993a).
Table 1—National average cost for supplementary education for students attending public schools in 1990, in U.S. dollars
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SOURCE: Monbusho 1993a. | |
The annual tuition for supplementary education for students attending private high schools was slightly higher than that for public high school students ($629) (Monbusho 1993a). But because these national averages include many students who do not participate in supplementary education, the actual cost for a student who is attending is much higher. For an elementary student preparing for a junior high school entrance examination, juku tuition can be from 384,000 yen ($3,692) to 821,000 yen ($7,894) annually. Annual tuition for a junior high school student preparing for a high school entrance examination can be from 423,000 yen ($4,067) to 589,000 yen ($5,663) (Kubota 1994).
Yobiko
Because even successful completion of a high school curriculum may be insufficient preparation to pass the very challenging university entrance examination, yobiko, another type of supplementary educational institution in Japan, offer specialized training tailored particularly for university entrance examinations (Eriguchi 1994). The yobiko enroll high school students and ronin, students who have failed the university entrance examination to the school of their first choice and have elected to spend a full year preparing to take the examinations again. The yobiko are full time, year-long examination preparation programs and are geared more toward the ronin.
Four types of extracurricular activities are available in Japanese schools. The two main types are kurabu (bukatsudo) and bu. Kurabu, which meet during regular school hours, are a required class for all fourth- through sixth-graders, and high school students. Bu, which meet after school at all levels, are generally optional.
Kurabu
The kurabu typically meet for one 45-minute session a week during the last period (2:40 to 3:40 p.m.) of a weekday, through the entire 35 weeks of the school year. Some of the most common types of kurabu are calligraphy, photography, music, art, tea ceremony, Japanese go, handicrafts/knitting, and flower arranging. These activities, typically nonacademic, serve to foster students' creativity, cooperative behavior, and self-direction. The only academically oriented kurabu is the English Club, which is offered by at least half of the Japanese secondary schools.
Bu
The bu, which may meet daily or only once or twice a week, typically last approximately 2 hours in junior high and high school and are also offered for 2 or 3 weeks during the summer session. With the exception of drama and journalism, the most commonly offered activities in bu are the same as those offered in kurabu.
Because attendance at bu is not required, they are not offered at all schools. The percentage of schools offering bu, however, greatly increases at the junior high and high school level. The percentage of elementary schools offering bu is 42 percent, while the percent of junior high and high schools offering it increases to 99 percent and 100 percent, respectively.
The percent of students participating in bu also varies with school level. One-fourth of elementary students and three-fourths of junior high and high school students participate in bu. During the summer session, participation increases slightly, with 45 percent of elementary students, 90 percent of junior high students, and 81 percent of high school students taking part.
Other Extracurricular Activities
Two other extracurricular activities are also offered: special activities and hoshu jugyo. Special activities, consisting of a wide variety of activities or events, take place once or twice a year. Among the most common activities are Sports Day, art and cultural festivals, cleaning of the school, and overnight field trips. Visits to factories or offices occur during elementary school and during high school for vocational students, the latter benefiting from the opportunity to investigate employment opportunities as they near their graduation dates.
Hoshu jugyo are mainly offered at academic high schools and supplement the regular curriculum. These classes, held before regular morning classes or during vacations, help students who are either falling behind in certain subjects or who are preparing for college entrance examinations. Because of the low fee, hoshu jugyo appeal to students who are financially unable to attend juku or yobiko. Students who are seeking admission to university by the suisen (recommendation) procedure are also attracted to these supplementary classes, since they offer close interaction with teachers, thus increasing the likelihood of receiving a good recommendation.
Japan governs and administers education through its three-tiered structure composed of national, prefectural, and municipal components. The entire educational system is supervised by the national authority of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, more commonly referred to as the Ministry of Education (Monbusho). Monbusho sets the guidelines to which all Japanese schools must adhere, thereby establishing a centralized, nationally controlled school system. As the major administrative organ of the state with respect to education in Japan, Monbusho is responsible for the promotion and development of school education, social education to include general education programs and information for all citizens, and science and culture, for which it administers government services for all national museums and national art galleries and some national research institutes. Education policymaking occurs at all three levels of educational administration?national, prefectural, and municipal?and is systematized and consensual.
Monbusho
At the national level, Monbusho solicits advice and receives recommendations from 13 advisory councils, composed of specialists who are appointed by the minister. The Central Council for Education, whose members are appointed by the minister with the consent of the Cabinet, is the most powerful of these groups and is concerned with fundamental policy issues.
Monbusho is 1 of 13 organizations under the control of the Cabinet, the executive branch of Japan's parliamentary cabinet system. The Cabinet works with the Diet as the legislative branch and the Courts as the judiciary branch to maintain democracy at the national level by separation and balance of power. Monbusho is involved with the Cabinet and Diet in developing budget estimates and to draft national legislation for education in Japan. Therefore, Monbusho has the national authority over the entire official system of education and is particularly influential at the elementary and secondary school levels.
The ministry's responsibilities include prescribing curricula, standards, and requirements. It approves textbooks and assumes responsibility for the content and implementation of public examinations. It directly oversees all national educational institutions, and it allocates resources and provides general supervision to prefectures, municipalities, and private institutions of higher education. It authorizes the establishment of colleges and universities, and regulates the establishment of private schools. It also investigates and issues directives to local boards of education for corrective action, as deemed necessary.
Prefecture Level
The governor of each of the 47 prefectures, with the consent of the prefectural assembly, appoints a five-member board of education. The board, with the approval of Monbusho, then appoints the prefectural superintendent of education. This regional rung of the educational ladder has more direct responsibilities, including operating schools established by prefectures, primarily upper secondary schools. They license teachers and, with municipal recommendation, make appointments to the various municipal elementary and lower secondary schools. They provide advice and financial assistance to municipalities on education matters.
Within the prefecture, the governor has the responsibilities of operating prefectural postsecondary institutions and supervising the administration of private elementary and secondary schools, while the minister of Monbusho supervises private universities, junior colleges, and technical colleges.
Municipal Level
The local administrative organizations for education are comprised of the chief executive of the local public entity, the local board of education, and assemblies and administrative commissions. Local public entities are established in municipalities, which are the lowest level of local public entity with a mayor as chief executive, and in prefectures, which are regional local entities with a governor as chief executive.
The mayor of each municipality, with the consent of the municipal assembly, appoints a three- or five-member municipal board of education. The board's responsibilities are similar— although smaller in degree—to those of the regional prefectural board of education. The boards operate municipal public elementary and lower secondary schools in their jurisdictions, adopt textbooks for compulsory school use from Monbusho's approved list, make recommendations to the prefectural boards of education on the appointment and dismissal of teachers, and conduct inservice training for teachers and school personnel. The mayor's office has the responsibility of operating municipal postsecondary institutions.
The last major unit for the municipal administrative operation of education is composed of assemblies and administrative commissions. In accordance with maintaining a local administration independent of central government, assembly members, like the mayors and governors, are elected by direct popular vote. One of the major tasks regarding educational administration that the assembly is responsible for is enacting, amending, or abolishing bylaws. It also manages the budget, authorizes the settlement of accounts, and authorizes contracts for construction and remodeling as well as the procurement or disposition of specific types of public properties.
Public education is financed by national, prefectural, and municipal governments and is augmented by tuition and admission fees at high school and higher education institutions. National and local governments do not levy special taxes for education, but finance it through general taxes and rental fees or commissions from national or municipal enterprises or estates. Private institutions, established as nonprofit corporations, receive income from tuition and subsidies from national and local governments. Business and industry sometimes make contributions to private institutions of higher education.
In 1992 the Monbusho, representing the national authority for education finance, had an entire budget of 5.319 trillion yen, or approximately 49.4 billion U.S. dollars (calculated at 104 yen per $1), an amount representing 7.37 percent of the total national budget, or, more accurately stated, 13.75 percent of total national expenditures (43.5 percent of the total national budget is fixed in bonds and grant programs) (Shimizu et al. 1993). Monbusho's entire budget was 1.3 percent of Japan's gross national product (GNP) (International Monetary Fund 1993).
The 1992 Monbusho budget was distributed as follows: Approximately 60 percent was allocated for teachers' salaries and facility costs of public compulsory and special education; 26 percent funded more than the 600 "national" (kokuritsu) institutions, those institutions established and monitored by the Monbusho at all educational levels; and 6.5 percent was allocated to assist private high schools and universities (Shimizu et al. 1993).
Another way of explaining the distribution of Monbusho's budget is by the particular type of expenditure: direct or indirect. Direct expenditures, which encompass one-fourth of Monbusho's allocations, are expenditures Monbusho uses for its own programs and administration, that is, the national social education program, funding of national schools at all levels, and textbook approval and distribution. Indirect expenditures, making up three-fourths of Monbusho's total budget, are expenditures used for assistance to various budgets and are supplemental payments, that is, aid distributed to local governments for compulsory education, assistance to private high schools and universities, and funds for scholarships (Kida 1982). The distinction between these two methods of expenditure is significant because Monbusho's influence is greater over programs of direct expenditure than of indirect expenditure. Therefore, although Monbusho has significant authority in textbook censoring and distribution, compulsory education, and oversight of national schools, most of its influence is relinquished to other governing bodies with the allocation of the indirect expenditures.
The education budget for local governments consists of resources from the prefectures (44.1 percent), the municipalities (32.3 percent), and the national government (18.9 percent) (Shimizu et al. 1993). The expenditures for education at the local government level are divided into three areas: expenses for school education, expenses for social education, and expenses for educational administration. In 1989 expenses for school education were 83.9 percent of the total local government budget and included expenditures for elementary schools (37.7 percent), junior high schools (22.3 percent), high schools (18.7 percent), special education (3.4 percent), and "other" schools (1.7 percent). Expenses for social education, funds distributed for sports events, cultural festivals, etc., were 11.3 percent of the total budget. Educational administration received 4.8 percent of the budget (Shimizu et al. 1993).
Compulsory education institutions in Japan are funded by the national and local governments and do not require tuition. Neither preschool nor high school education is mandatory, and though institutions at those levels receive government subsidies, tuition is required. In 1990 the annual tuition for a local public preschool was 64,325 yen ($618), and tuition for a private preschool was 150,697 yen ($1,450). The annual tuition for a local public and private high school in the same year was 85,774 yen ($824) and 217,180 yen ($1,551) respectively (Monbusho 1993a).
At all grade levels, various miscellaneous costs are the students' or guardians' responsibility. These include fees for other books—such as supplementary study guides, stationery, and instruction materials—extracurricular activities, and costs for commuting, school trips and excursions, classroom activities, and PTA membership. School lunch is served in kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school; this cost, too, is students' responsibility.
Public and private institutions of higher education also require tuition from the students, and this varies greatly with the particular institution and program. For universities, it is of particular interest to note that the average tuition for a private institution is almost double that for national and public universities. In 1990, for example, the average annual tuition for national universities was 293,600 yen ($2,823), for public universities 306,400 yen ($2,946), and for private universities 605,000 yen ($5,817)(Monbusho 1993a). (Calculated at 104 yen per U.S. dollar.)
The Korean Association (Chosen Soren) supports and runs 62 Korean schools in Japan, with between 30,000 and 40,000 students. Nationalities of the students in Korean schools are North Korean, South Korean, and Japanese (if one parent is Japanese and one is Korean). Each school has a kindergarten, elementary, junior high, and sometimes high school.
The curriculum of Korean schools is the same as that of Japanese schools, with four differences:
Following the Japanese education system, Korean schools in Japan are based on the 6-3-3-4 model, describing years of elementary, junior high school, high school, and college education.
Preschool Education
The preschool consists of the nursery school group (hoikuhan), young child group (nenshohan), and older child group (nenchohan). The goal of preschool education is to provide general knowledge appropriate to young children while emphasizing basic knowledge about the Korean nation.
Elementary Education
The goal of elementary education is to instill in students the general knowledge that should be provided to elementary school children while building a foundation of Korean consciousness. Particularly, the most important educational task at this stage is laying the foundation for a mastery of the Korean language.
Secondary Education
Secondary education consists of the junior high and high school. At the junior high school level, students learn Korean-related subjects such as the Korean language, mathematics, the sciences, and a foreign language. At the high school level, students receive general knowledge to help create the framework for an accurate worldview. In grade 11, students are divided into the liberal arts and science tracks, based on their ability and preference, so as to facilitate educational instruction. Korean high schools in Tokyo, Osaka, and Aichi also have a commercial track. High school graduates advance to Korean universities (chosen daigakko) in Japan, or to regular universities in Japan, Europe, or North America. Otherwise, they seek employment in the general labor market.
Higher Education
The Korean University is designed to produce popular leaders and experts who can contribute to the Korean movement in Japan. It is the only Korean university that exists outside of Korea. The Korean University consists of eight departments and graduate programs, as well as four research institutes and one library.
Besides the Koreans, another hidden group in Japan's nearly total homogenous population is the burakumin. The burakumin are not ethnically different from the Japanese, but became segregated from mainstream society hundreds of years ago when they were assigned occupations of low status. Such "dirty" jobs included working in tanneries, taking care of animals, and disposing of the dead. Little information is available about their presence in the school structure.
The Japanese educational system encompasses 9 years of compulsory education: 6 years of elementary and 3 years of junior high school. Attendance at kindergartens and high schools is optional, but more than 95 percent of Japanese children attend some form of pre-elementary education and over 90 percent of Japanese high school students successfully receive their diploma, from either a general or a vocational course.
Many popular publications in Western countries describe the school year in Japan as consisting of 240 days. However, this number treats the half-day of school on Saturday as a full day and includes days devoted to various nonacademic courses and events. Extracurricular activities occurring after school, and academic supplemental classes occurring before school at various high schools, add to the students' busy schedule.
In addition to the 4-year universities and the 2-year junior colleges, other educational institutions include technical schools, special training schools, miscellaneous schools, and special education schools. The student body of the university is approximately 70 percent male, but the junior college population consists of more than 90 percent females. Almost 90 percent of the 5-year technical school students are male, and special training schools and miscellaneous schools have similar high percentage of males.
Compulsory education and special education institutions include over 90 percent of publicly funded schools. The majority of pre-elementary schools and approximately 30 percent of high schools are privately funded, revealing the increase in private institutions operations at the noncompulsory education levels. Universities have the only significant number of nationally funded institutions, nearly 20 percent. Over 70 percent of universities are private; the remainder are public. More than 80 percent of junior colleges, special training schools, and miscellaneous schools are privately funded. Tuition is not assessed at the compulsory education level, but is required for all the other education institutions.
Japan has an elaborate system of cram schools and university entrance examination preparatory schools. The result of the university entrance examination is the dominating factor in decisions on admittance into one of the prestigious universities. These universities maintain close ties with prominent companies that offer secure and prominent occupations; thus, these universities play a major role throughout the schooling of many students.
The Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (Monbusho) establishes the guidelines on how national, prefectural, and municipal governments govern and administer education. Its major influence lies in censoring and distributing textbooks, enforcing compulsory education, and overseeing the national schools.
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[The Educational Structure of the Japanese School System - References]