Passage 1.

Japanese Education System

Few American students would find the Japanese system desirable. But it produces good results.
Ninety-four percent of Japanese students graduate from high school compared to less than 80
percent of American students. Less than one percent of Japanese students are illiterate - with a far
more complicated alphabet. Those who graduate have the equivalent of three to four years more
schooling than their US counterparts, according to the Stanford University study. Japanese graduates
have all studied Calculus, Physics and Chemistry. Fewer than half of US students take a year of
Physics and Chemistry and only 6 percent study Calculus. But the rigours of the Japanese system
can take its toll. For many years, Japan's teen suicide rate was the highest in the world, a problem
blamed on the stress of 'exam hell'. The hours of study can limit social life as well. Aki Morizono, a
tenth grade exchange student says that socially students there lag far behind the Americans.

'Girls my age in Japan don't have guy friends because there is no opportunity to mix, she says. 'They
learn how to deal with adults, but it's hard for them to deal with people their own age.' Japanese
educators feel that school is no place for students to socialize. School is a place to acquire knowledge
and reinforce Japanese values.

First among these values in conformity. As a crowded island nation, the Japanese have always put
the interests of the group ahead of the individual. Where American schools encourage students to find
their own answers, Japanese schools discourage it. As an old Japanese adage says, ' The nail that
sticks up gets hammered down.' Japanese parents - particularly mothers - take an active role in their
children's education. Because so few Japanese women have jobs once they marry, their primary
measure of success becomes the education of their children.

Their high expectations serve as tremendous pressure on children. One survey of mothers in both
countries found that Asian mothers are far more demanding than American mothers. When asked
what score they would be satisfied with on a Maths exam, American mothers said 72, or a C, while
Asian mothers said 92 - an A. Americans are satisfied with moderate performances.' says Harold
Stevenson, a professor at the University of Michigan who conducted the study. It's not just in
education; it transfers readily to industry. They're satisfied with thirty defects in 100,000 computer
chips when the Japanese aren't satisfied with one.'

Despite their success, the Japanese aren't quite satisfied with the way the school system works. At
present, teaching is geared towards the system of exams, which are based strictly on factual
information. As a result, the emphasis of Japanese education is on memorizing facts for the exams.
But the growing information and computer industries demand more than just rote memorization - they
call for creativity. Basically they learn all year round what they will have to repeat in the exams. And
the exams will be exactly what they already saw. No personal analysis, no critical thinking, no
personal reasoning. Because the teacher said so is enough, it’s even the rule. Which leads to reason
a very simplistic way and incapacity to think out of the box or resolve problems that differ from the
problem they had in the text book. Which leads to a lack of flexibility and adapting skills. What is more
important is the result and not how you get the result. Those who try to think differently are considered
as trouble makers, selfish (because they break the harmony of the group), as oddballs. They usually
are punished for that. School in Japan is at first a place to shape the perfect Japanese citizen.

The perfect Japanese citizen must not question anything, has to do exactly as told no question asked,
follow the group in everything and accept without complaining. The perfect Japanese citizen must not
try to be an active citizen and take care of the society but must leave that in the hands of the
establishment. The perfect Japanese citizen must not know what's actually going on abroad and in
Japan so he or she doesn't realize that things could be different. Actual learning comes after.
Everybody graduates. Even the worst students who clearly don't have the level to go to the class
above. To repeat one really needs to have missed a lot of classes and the exams or something bad.
Unfortunately even at the university it's the same. Teachers are asked to not be too strict, change the
grades for those who failed or give a new easier exam.

However, Japanese Ministry of education plans to introduce new courses in 1992 to focus on
independent learning and problem solving. Students will also be able to choose electives. Some
changes are already taking place.