Class hours, learning content to increase in schools

Friday 25th April, 05:34 AM JST

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14 Comments

borscht at 07:30 AM JST - 25th April

As the new school year begins and a new crop of recent high school graduates fill our university I can only say, more hours of sleeping through a boring lecture are not going to increase test scores or proficiency in any field.

Here's hoping the increased number of hours in class is balanced by a similar increase in teacher hiring so the current teachers aren't burned out by the end of their second year of teaching. (Maybe Japan can do for Japan what it is professing to do in Africa - train 100,000 teachers. See the article about 30 billion to Africa - http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-promises-y30-bil-assistance-for-education-in-africa)
proxy at 08:08 AM JST - 25th April

My daughter's school had their open house yesterday. From what I saw there was only about 2 kids in every class that showed any interest in what the teacher was doing. About half of the kids were just sitting, eyes down, face hidden, not getting a thing. People always ask us how our daughter does so well at Jr. High. "What juku does she go to?" "How many hours of homework does she do every day?" Besides the obvious, that she has had a more diverse upbringing, all I can say is, she doesn't go to juku and we tell her she doesn't need to waste her time on most of the homework if she already knows it. Instead she can do what ever she wants in her free time. Oh, and we didn't allow our daughter to join a school sports club. The only "down side" is that some of the sluttier girls give her the evil eye because she knows all the answers and the kids that spend all their time studying things they already know are in a panic. Less free time will mean the marks will drop even more.
DenshaDeGO at 08:43 AM JST - 25th April

As long as the kids of today are as unmotivated as they are, making longer classes isn't going to make them learn anything. The "Education Ministry" has a lot to learn itself.
DeepAir65 at 08:52 AM JST - 25th April

What are the current school hours in a Japanese public school? Are they talking about from 5 to 6 or 9 to 10?
pizzaboy at 09:51 AM JST - 25th April

Oh, and we didn't allow our daughter to join a school sports club.

what a shame.

she can do what ever she wants in her free time

hm, seems pretty contradictory
proxy at 12:44 PM JST - 25th April

Life is a contradiction. What a shame she doesn't have to go to basketball practice every day, 365 days a year and never has any contact with her family????????? The thing is if she joined a sports club she would have no free time because the coach would tell her what to do and she would have spent a year washing towels for the older kids. She is free to do what she wants but if she commits a crime and goes to jail or joins a sports club she would loose all freedom. So I don't let her steal things either.
jerseyboy at 02:04 PM JST - 25th April

One hour a week for foreign language!!!!!Obviously EngRish is not going to disappear anytime soon, and yet another gneration will grow up saying "redo", "shorto", "Armando", etc. And that is not a cheap-shot. It is simply pointing out that Japan's foreign-langauge skills, which I believe now rank like 61st in the world, are only going to continue to slide. And, as a result, Japan's ability to compete globally will continue to slide as well.
nigelboy at 02:39 PM JST - 25th April

Funny how people here criticize Japan's english skills using such over used descriptions as "Engrish" when that same person can't even write thier own name using non Latin based language.
jerseyboy at 03:08 PM JST - 25th April

nigelboy...First off, I CAN write my name in katakana, but so what? That is my exact point. That does me, and the Japanese people, absolutely no good once you leave this island. (Guess that point escaped you.) It is a completely non-tranferrable skill. Second, since the vast majority of business transactions, education, etc. in the world occur in Latin-based langauges, some passing knowledge of even one of those languages is likely to be much more valuable to a young Japanese person in the 21st century than simply studying more kanji. Finally, it is "their", not "thier". Maybe you need to brush up on your Latin-based spelling.
curlygene at 06:00 PM JST - 25th April

Pizzaboy,

Proxy has it totally right here. From my understanding, most school clubs in Japan require ridiculous amount of time given at expense of the kid and their family. This conditions them quite nicely for life in a Japanese company, which require ridiculous amounts of overtime given at the expense of the individual and their family. Proxy, I hope to emulate you when my kids go to school in Japan!
pizzaboy at 10:42 PM JST - 25th April

a child learns a lot about life through sports (building up a high self-esteem, becoming mentally tough, respect, hard work leads to rewards etc), not to mention bonding with friends, where proxy's kids' friends are while his daughter is busy doing god-knows-what with all her free time. I can't believe how negative some people view things here in Japan. Then again, this is where the pessimists hang out, so there u go. Proxy's daughter will end up like my a few of my students who cry when they lose a game-based activity.
timeon at 11:19 PM JST - 25th April

pizzaboy, I was in school in Japan (I'm not Japanese) and I joined a tennis club, so I completely agree with Proxy. most of this places are like a military camp, emphasizing a lot on brainwashing and being trashed by your seniors. I don't say there aren't any nice clubs, but at least I don't know too many my experience is from college, but I've heard in high school and junior high things are even more extreme
usaexpat at 11:47 PM JST - 25th April

Ah yes, more hours that's what we need to instill the ethic of "even if you have nothing to do, don't leave work before the boss" My wife always told me that college was a breeze after attending an elite High School which is the polar opposite of the U.S. As an aside Proxy you are right on the money, my children will not be doing Juku either. There are better things for them to do in their free time.
anderstungtwist at 04:58 AM JST - 26th April

Sports should be an extra-curricular activity, not their whole friggin' lives. This is another example of how the Japanese take things to extremes.

Juku is totally unnecessary for a child with the self-discipline to study. If they've been raised on TV, however, they'll probably need to pay someone to tell them how to select books to study. Everybody: get rid of your televisions if you want to raise a creative child instead of a gadget-craving one!

It is extremely immature to correct someone for typing "thier" instead of "their," especially when you yourself have typed "tranferrable" instead of "transferrable".

only about 2 kids in every class that showed any interest in what the teacher was doing.

Isn't it the kids who are supposed to be doing something and the teacher showing interest in their activities?