Parents pay 3 times more for private school education: survey

Thursday 28th January, 03:44 AM JST

TOKYO —

Parents spend three times more on educating their child at a private school than at a public school during the 15-year period from kindergarten to high school, an education ministry survey showed Wednesday. For a child at a private school, parents spend a total of 16.63 million yen in the 15 years, while education at a public school costs 5.51 million yen, according to the biennial survey for fiscal 2008.

The gap between private and public school education was almost unchanged from 2.9 times in the previous survey for fiscal 2006. The education fees in the survey include entrance fees, tuition, and other expenses such as cram school and after-school lesson fees. The survey, which has been conducted every other year since fiscal 1994, covered some 28,000 parents.

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15 Comments

sharky1 at 08:07 AM JST - 28th January

It's because the public schools are inadequate. Without going to a "cram" school, a middle school student will not acquire the level of education necessary to be competitive for available seats in high school.
DeepAir65 at 09:45 AM JST - 28th January

I thought public schools were free - what do you pay for? Except indirectly through taxes which you pay for whether your child is in private or public school?

Also the 16million probably only covers fees but does not include uniform, extra curriculum activities etc.

Are they comparing like with like?
Takuma7 at 10:14 AM JST - 28th January

But you get what you pay for. My son’s private school cost the same as his current daycare. It also teaches English starting in kindergarten fulltime with real English teachers.
cleo at 10:43 AM JST - 28th January

Choose your private school well and there should be no need for cram school.

Public schools charge for all kinds of little 'extras' like textbooks not provided by the state, school trips, club activities, etc. Senior high schools also charge tuition - it used to be about 9,000 a month, not sure what it is now. Add in all the little extras, and by high school you'll be paying around 20,000~30,000 a month, not including cram school.
dolphingirl at 11:47 AM JST - 28th January

OMG! No wonder people are not having children!

Public schools should be free, including high school! That is an insane price to pay just for your child's basic education. Middle class families should not have to feel pressured into sending their kid to private school so their child can compete on the same level as other kids. Public schools should be providing all children with a good education at minimal costs. Otherwise the kids of lower class families never have a chance and middle class families end up up to their ears in debt...
timorborder at 01:40 PM JST - 28th January

*It's because the public schools are inadequate. *

That very much depends on the school. Some of the public schools in this country (or at least in Tokyo) that act as feeders for the elite universities are rather good.

At the same time, however, I question the Japanese mentality of education to the point of psychosis.
goddog at 03:46 PM JST - 28th January

My daughters public schools are very good, and I do not feel that expensive. One never went to cram school and got into a public one. One is starting Junior HS soon.
TSRnow at 04:25 PM JST - 28th January

And don't forget the lunch fees which a handful of monster parents are refusing to pay for, which burdens the innocent people who are.
Disillusioned at 06:26 PM JST - 28th January
*It's because the public schools are inadequate. *

The schools are fine except for a coat of paint. It's the teachers and monster parents that are the problem.
- As for the price of private schools, most of which are a rip-off. I taught at a private senior high a few years ago and each of the first grade classes had between 42 and 46 students in them. It was not education. It was just a shit-fight. I would have been very peeved to be paying 8-10 grand a year for my kids to attend a private school that can't even see the blackboard. I see very little difference between the public and private school system other than 5-10 grand a year.
OneForAll at 06:46 PM JST - 28th January

50,000 USD for one child at a public school. 150,000 for one at a private school. I will bet 200,000 plus for an International School. The cost is born by the child's family. Yes, saving would be high. Children few.

This is one area the West is far more advanced than Japan. The burden of educating the next generation is distributed to all families and all children are given an equal chance. It is unfortunate, because the Japanese really do love children. And who is there to take care of the old, pay taxes, do the work? A bit short-sighted.
OneForAll at 06:48 PM JST - 28th January

borne
cleo at 09:26 PM JST - 28th January

private schools, most of which are a rip-off. I taught at a private senior high a few years ago and each of the first grade classes had between 42 and 46 students in them

You have to choose your school. A couple of my friends were overjoyed to get their kids into very prestigious, famous private high schools, and their kids had 49 classmates each. They spent six years doing nothing but study and heaved a sigh of relief when it was over. The private school we sent our son to wasn't anywhere near as famous and prestigious (or expensive) and he had 25 classmates, fewer for graded lessons like English and maths. He studied hard, but he also got to do a lot of fun stuff, and the school encouraged the kids to have a life outside of school. A famous name isn't everything.
goddog at 11:02 PM JST - 28th January

I do not see the numbers right here for the public schools, unless that is why my wallet is so empty. $3300 a year? Nope. Wrong compute.

public school during the 15-year period from kindergarten to high school

Look at the word to! It means up to High School. And that is true. How much more if yo get into a public HS or not? Baggy pants, and slave construction labor? Fake SenMOn Gaku institutions? Would you like freedom fries with that sir? All school should be free for kids until 20
limboinjapan at 11:09 PM JST - 28th January

The public schools from elementary school through Junior high are free and guaranteed entrance (based on where you live) (good area, good school. Not so good area, not so good school) but there are lunch (approx 200yen a day), uniform and school trip fees to pay. If you are in a low income bracket then most of these fees will be paid by your city or ward if you apply before April 20th of each school year!

High Schools are another story! The new government is planing on making public free (tuition only approx 150,000 yen per year) but the extra fees will not be covered (approx 250,000 yen per year)these may be partially covered by your municipality if you are low income, but now with the planed free tuition most are planing on fazing this out!

The real problem is that there are not enough places available in public schools (particularly in lager urban areas Tokyo, Osaka) so children must compete for a place.

This entails 3 section 1) an exam 2)a fairly arbitrary point system (point given on how the Junior high perceives the child to be) 3) an interview! Fail any one of these and the child will not be admitted!

The worst of these 3 is the point system a child who is perceived to be "different" will get low points and this will end any chance of getting into a public school!

This is the situation that I am facing now! I have an exceptionally bright child with a genius level IQ who cannot relate to the "Kawai" social structure of school clubs and other social norms that are expected from a girl!

She can write computer code, programing and operate several computer platforms. She can out strip any of her classmates in Japanese, English, Science and French but somehow received 20 out of 51 on the point system witch virtually locks her out of the public system, so I have but 2 choices not send her to High School or somehow fined the cash for a private one!( she will be going to a private science university High school)

Private schools do not check or even request the participation point score, especially the science and high-tech ones, seeing that most of the "odd" students are often the tech and science nerds!
bcbrownboy at 07:23 AM JST - 29th January

Third world school system in a "first world" country - it sucks! And sucks my wallet dry.