Japan and its standardized test-based education system

The Japanese Education System

by Kevin Burns
(Kanagawa, Japan)

The Japanese Education System


"Hensachi means `deviation value,` and is a quantifying method that determines one`s relative rank, not actual ability. Hensachi status, however, painfully suggests to many students that they are inferior to others. Its impact on them and on their attitude to life is so strong that it often lingers throughout their lifetime."

--p. 79, "Mental Health Challenges Facing Contemporary Japanese Society, The `Lonely People` by Yuko Kawanishi


The Japanese Education System

For some positives in Japanese education, one need look no further than the local kindergarten or the local elementary school. For everything other than English education, they are doing a good to great job of educating the children of Japan. Classes are creative, teachers are caring, on the whole, and students are happy and learning.

Were the whole education system to be like this from kindergarten to the end of university, the Japanese people would be happier, healthier and more productive, both in GDP and creative terms.     Read More