Sally Aguilar: Japan's educational system

Dear Professor,

Upon listening to ma’am Mitch Villaceran' sharing ( December 4, 2010), about the educational system of Japan, and how she enjoyed the experience to having an opportunity to explore the country, my interest of knowing this country a little was engrossed. I learned that Japan’s name means "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

I learned from the internet also that the English word of Japan is an exonym. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon. They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including on Japanese money, postage stamps, and for many international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and the most frequently used in contemporary speech. Japanese people refer to themselves as Nihonjin (日本人?) and to their language as Nihongo (日本語?). Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "sun's origin" and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Another knowledge I gather is the schooling years in the Japanese education system are segmented along the lines of 6-3-3-4: 6 years of primary or elementary school; 3 years of middle or junior high school; 3 years of high school; and 4 years of university. However, the government has just announced (October 2005, Daily Yomiuri) that it is intending to make changes in the Education Law to allow schools to merge the 6-3 division between elementary and middle schools. The key purpose for this change is to allow elementary and middle schools to pool or share their resources, with special regard to making available specialist teachers of middle schools to elementary schools.

I knew also from the net that compulsory education covers elementary school and junior high school. A break from the past, modern public schools in Japan today are mostly coed (more than 99% of elementary schools). The Japanese school year begins in April and students attend school for three terms except for brief spring and winter breaks and a one month long summer holiday. (http://www.education-in-japan.info/sub1.html)

In Japan, education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Virtually all students progress to the upper secondary level, which is voluntary. Most students attend public schools through the lower secondary level, but private education is popular at the upper secondary and university levels. Japan's education system played a central part in Japan's recovery and rapid economic growth in the decades following the end of World War II.

Now I realized that if only in our country there is unity and support of everybody in whatever program the government will implement; and if only our government officials and leaders would really use all the resources to make the educational system in the Philippines work and effective. We would be as progressive, productive and effective country as Japan. I also realized that change should start in our educational system and in the program of education. Just like in Japan, why is it that their elementary pupils already know how to make gadgets like calculators, radio, and flashlight in their young age? And why is it that our pupils here can not? So maybe, the educational leaders should do some improvement and changes in the educational system in our country and maybe then, we could uplift our educational status in the international rankings. There is one thing to keep in mind here; the Japanese students are not necessarily born far more intelligent than the rest. So , there is still hope for our educational system to be effective and to soar high like theirs. Then we would enjoy the same kinds of success, the test scores would go up and the future of our country would look a whole lot brighter than it does.

Yours,
Sally S. Aguilar
Ph.D-Ed.Mngt. 1