How are classes taught in Japan? Japanese schoolchildren

Basics of the Japanese program school education determined by standards approved by the Ministry of Education. Municipal authorities are responsible for financing, program implementation, and staffing of those school institutions that are located on their territory.

School in Japan is represented by three levels. This is elementary, middle, high school. Primary and middle school are compulsory levels of education; high school is optional, but over 90% of Japanese youth try to continue their studies in high school. Education in primary and secondary schools is free, but you have to pay for high school.

Little Japanese go to primary school from the age of six and continue their studies here until the 7th grade. Education in secondary school lasts from 7th to 9th grades. High school education lasts for 3 years, until the end of 12th grade.

Table clearly showing the education system in Japan

Features of Japanese schools

The uniqueness of Japanese schools is that the class composition here changes annually, which allows students to develop communication skills and makes it possible to establish friendly relations With a large number peers. Teachers in Japanese schools also change every year. Class sizes in Japanese schools are large, ranging from 30 to 40 students.

Begins academic year in Japanese schools from April 1, it consists of three trimesters, which are separated from each other by holidays. In spring and winter, schoolchildren rest for ten days; the summer vacation period is 40 days. The school week lasts from Monday to Friday, some schools have classes on Saturday, with students having a rest every second Saturday.

Lessons in Japanese schools last for 50 minutes, for kids the lesson lasts 45 minutes, then there is a short break. Daily educational process for a Japanese schoolchild it ends at 3 pm. IN primary school learning takes place Japanese language, social studies, natural science, mathematics, music, fine arts, physical education, management household. Primary school students are not given homework and do not take exams.

Middle and high school education

Two years ago it was introduced for compulsory education English language, its teaching is carried out from high school, teaching English is allowed only to native speakers for whom it is native. Secondary schools in Japan teach several more special subjects, their composition depends on the school itself.

Traditionally, the most difficult subjects in a Japanese school are the study of languages ​​- native and English. Students begin to be examined in high school. They take exams at the end of the trimester in all subjects; in the middle of the first and second trimester, exams are held in mathematics, natural science, social studies, Japanese, and English.

Japanese schoolchildren can eat lunch for an hour. There are no canteens in schools; hot lunches for children are prepared in a special sterile room, and here they are placed in individual boxes, which are brought to classes on carts.

School uniform

Each school chooses its own uniform, and it is mandatory to wear it. The uniform also includes a bright baseball cap, which is a kind of identification mark. Each school also has a uniform sports uniform.

The Japanese schoolchild is responsible for cleaning the school - there are no technical workers in the schools, the entire school territory is divided into areas, for the cleanliness of which a certain class is responsible. At the end of lessons, students clean their classroom and the school area assigned to them.

Education of foreign schoolchildren, schools for Russians

All foreign students living in Japan have the right to school education, which can be obtained in municipal schools. To do this, parents should contact the municipality, where they will be given information about which school their child can attend. To study at school, parents will only need to purchase notebooks for written calculations and other educational supplies for their child.

Kindergarten in Japan is compulsory and usually starts at age 3. Already in kindergarten, children master the basics of arithmetic and can read hiragana and katakana.

All children must pass exams in order to enter school. Those who fail the school entrance exam can study at a preparatory school or try again next year.

Education in primary and secondary schools is compulsory and free. Education in high schools and universities is always paid.

IN elementary school They don't assign homework. But in middle and high school, homework is quite extensive, so it is believed that Japanese high school students are the busiest people in the country.

Each school has its own unique uniform.

There are shoe lockers immediately after entering the school.

Most schools have strict rules regarding hair color. Only natural hair color is acceptable for schoolchildren.

In many public and private schools, boys are required to keep their hair short.

Some rules for girls include: going without perm, makeup, nail polish or jewelry (except watches).

Students may only wear white, black or dark blue socks. If a student is wearing, for example, brown socks, what's wrong? school rules, then these socks may be confiscated.

A typical Japanese school class consists of 30 - 40 people.

Students typically remain in the same classroom throughout the year, while teachers move from class to class.

Students must learn about 2,500 characters (letters) to be able to read and write Japanese.

The main subjects in Japanese schools are mathematics, Japanese, social studies, crafts, music and physical education. Now most of the primary schools have started teaching English.

Schools use information Technology to improve and enhance education. All schools have internet.

In schools, all classes are divided into small groups. These groups perform different types activities, for example, cleaning the classroom, yard, halls, etc.

The activities club is another important factor in schools. Most schools encourage students to take part in one of two clubs, sports club(football, kendo, baseball, judo, tennis, athletics, swimming, volleyball, rugby) or a cultural club (calligraphy, mathematics, science). Club members meet after school and spend time together.

There are no cleaners in Japanese schools. After classes end, students themselves clean classrooms, hallways, bathrooms and the area around the school every day.

In Japan, children go to primary school for 6 years, high school for 3 years, high school for 3 years, and university for 4 years.

Summer holidays last about 40 days. As a rule, it runs from approximately July 20 to August 31. Winter holidays last about 10 days and fall from December 26 to January 6. Spring break also lasts about 10 days and falls from March 25 to April 5.

The Japanese school year begins in April.

Schoolchildren are given homework for the summer and winter holidays.

In Japan they go to school on Saturdays. Typically the school day runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Students study subjects such as healthy image life, computer science, music, art, physical education and home economics, and also study traditional arts- calligraphy and haiku (a type of poem).

Students are not allowed to bring any snacks into the school, sometimes even medications such as candy for a sore throat, because candy is considered a snack.

Each school has a nutritionist who monitors healthy eating students and menu planning.

To move from middle school to high school, you need to pass exams. You also need to take exams at the end of each trimester and in the middle of the first and second trimesters.

University students drive cars. There is no such thing as a school bus in Japan. They walk, ride a bicycle or take public transport. Pupils go to primary school in small groups.

The better your university entrance exam results, the more likely you are to receive support large company, which will pay for a college education. Then you go to work for this company and money for training is deducted from your salary.

At the university, the student himself chooses the disciplines that interest him. They don't have coursework and theses, but you need to write reports of several pages.

The educational process for Japanese children begins from the moment they enter school. kindergarten and flows smoothly and continuously from one stage to another. The peculiarities of school education in Japan lie, firstly, in the unusual start date for the school year in Japanese schools.

For Japanese children schooling starts in April. This is associated with the beginning of cherry blossoms. And why not, when the nature around us is renewed, perhaps the mood for learning in children should be higher.

The beginning of the school year, which by our standards comes at the end of the school year (pardon the pun), is unusual for us. In Russia, the school year begins on September 1; in almost all of Europe, children begin school in September, in some countries no later than October. In America, the school year in each state has its own date, but in general educational process in schools starts from August to September.

But for Asia, the beginning of the school year in March-April is not surprising (in Korea, the school year begins in March); in India, children generally begin to study in the summer - June 1. In the summer we want to relax, swim, sunbathe - but they always have summer. (I’m not being serious, of course, each country has its own reasons and arguments why, something is happening at this particular time, I haven’t studied this issue).

Let's return to Japan: there are three terms in the academic year and the first lasts from April to July 20, then the longest ones are provided summer holidays and the second stage of education begins on September 1, then winter holidays from December 26 to January 6 and the last trimester begins on January 7, which ends on March 25 and with it the academic year ends. In a week, students will start classes again, but will be one grade older.

As we can see, the holidays for Russian children are much longer. But Japanese children do not stop studying during short holidays, as they are given homework, and some of them continue their studies in special schools and courses. Both parents and schoolchildren themselves know that studying at school will not provide them with a sufficient level of knowledge, thanks to which they will be able to enter a state university in the future.

Therefore, the vast majority of students attend private schools in parallel with their studies at school ( juku) And preparatory schools (yobikoo). This training takes place after school and it is typical for Japan that at 9 pm the streets and public transport filled out by students with backpacks who, after finishing juku are returning home.

Additional children attend educational institutions and on Sunday, despite the fact that Saturday is considered a school day. Such intensive learning, which is of a mass nature, is another feature of school education in Japan.

Schools provide textbooks to students free of charge. All schools operate according to uniform programs approved by the Ministry of Education of Japan, but elite schools have the right to change and adjust them at their own discretion, while slightly changing the number of hours or introducing additional subjects.

It is also considered a feature of school education in Japan that despite the fact that all schools operate according to uniform programs, there are nevertheless no uniform textbooks in Japan, especially in subjects related to history, geography, literature, etc. Since these issues are studied taking into account the region of residence of the students. That is, the school studies in depth its region, its nature, climate, history of the region’s development, famous people who lived in this area.

In state (public) schools, the class size is quite high, up to 40 people. The class is usually divided into groups of 4-6 people, each of which has its own leader. They go to school in groups, they communicate in groups outside of class, the child is never alone, he is always in society. The school continues to actively socialize students.

Schools are usually located close to where students live. The school has its own uniform; in primary school uniforms are not required, but from secondary school seifuku(school uniform) is required. And traditionally, military-style uniforms are provided for boys, and sailor suits for girls.

As was said, complete education It is not necessary for a Japanese student; it is enough to finish high school, but nevertheless, more than 95% of children continue their education in high school. And another feature of school education in Japan is that the percentage public schools Those implementing high school programs are reduced from 99% to 75.7%; public schools are being replaced by private schools, the percentage of which increases to 24.

Just like our mothers do with their children at home, but much more intensively and actively, the mother takes part in school life his child often visiting her. It should be borne in mind that, as a rule, he does not work or works part-time. For his part, the Japanese child (student) is quite disciplined and practically never misses classes. The percentage of children's attendance at classes is 99.98%. Which seems fantastic.

There is probably a secret to such high attendance. I don’t know how it is at school, but I can tell you how they motivate a student to attend classes: despite the fact that a lot of money is paid for training, if a student is sick, he is allowed not to come to classes, BUT in order to then receive a certificate of completion educational institution, the student needs to make up the missed classes, that is, study additionally with the teacher, but for additional fee and for one day of admission we had to pay additionally with our money - 6,000 rubles. After that, you’ll think about whether it’s worth getting sick or whether it’s better to go to classes. It is clear that this is a different situation, but the principle is that you can always find a stimulating beginning.