Japanese Education
VS American Education
If you had a child wouldn't you want them to have the best of everything, especially education? Japanese schools have many similarities and differences when compared to American schools. Education in this country is the top in the world. Their education style is different than ours. What can we do to make ours better?
Transportation
Japanese students use many different forms of transportation to get to and from school. Generally, students that don't need to travel very far to get to school will walk or bike. Many students have longer transportation. Some students can spend up to two hours to get to school! Public buses or trains are mostly used to get over these long distances. Unlike American schools, Japanese schools do not have school buses.
Extra Curricular Activities
In japan most kids have an after school activity. Not all of the kids do these clubs for fun. Most are in clubs to build their character. A lot of the children are in sports clubs and many others to some sort of humanitarian club. In America most of the students who are in clubs are in these clubs because there is a chance of a scholarship. Also there is a lot more people who aren't in clubs.
Entrance Exams
The university you get into is very much connected to the score you receive on your entrance exams. These tests are not just for getting into university they are taken before high school to determine your classes. Many students take cram schools after school to help them when they take the exams. Americans don't have to take entrance exams. We have the SAT and the Act that help the colleges decide if they want to have you attend them. Though in high school we just have many little tests during the school year. Our test taking styles are very different than Japan.
Required Classes
There are many required classes in Japanese schools. Some of these classes include math, reading, writing, Japanese, English, science, and social studies. Classes like music, art, moral education, physical education, and household are also required. Similar to American schools, Japanese students can take electives. Although they can take electives, there are not many choices or opportunities due to the large amount of required classes.
School Year Length
Schooling is done year round in Japan. Their schooling system is in three trimesters. School starts in April and ends in March of the next year. The first trimester starts on April 6th and ends until July 20th where students get a summer break that is about a month. The second trimester runs from around September 1st to December 25th. Then the third and final trimester runs from January 7th to March where they get a short spring break. Students generally go to school for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week with no school on Sundays. Most of the schools require at least 240 school days a year.
Uniforms
The traditional Japanese uniform is based on the European style navy uniform. The style of your uniform can tell other people if you are in middle school or high school. It can also tell other people what school you go to. In America not all schools have uniforms. The ones that do usually consist of khakis of some sort and a polo. Japanese schools have much more formal uniforms than America and every student wears one.