Education in Japan has come to a turning point. In line with the new Courses of Study that went into effect in April, public schools have all gone to a five-day school week, and the curriculum has been reduced by 30%. The new guidelines mark a shift from cramming children's heads with knowledge to giving them "room to grow" and from priority on equality and uniformity to a focus on competition and individuality. The new guidelines also permit advanced students to enter college one year earlier. There has been resistance to the changes, though, from some who fear that the new style of education will result in a collapse in students' academic abilities. A look at a number of international studies, however, shows that academic performance in Japan remains at a very high level.

Opposition to Educational Reforms
Educational reform has been an ongoing process since the 1990s, and one of the main influences has been a commission that was set up by then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1984. This commission recommended breaking free of an ideology of uniformity and placing a greater emphasis on individuality. It also proposed considering the implementation of a five-day school week. In 1996 the Central Council for Education, an advisory panel to the minister of education, put forth a proposal for "education that teaches children how to study and learn on their own and gives them room to grow" with the goal of nurturing "zest for living."

Afterwards, the Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology) released new Courses of Study for elementary and middle schools in 1998. The Courses of Study stipulated a 10% reduction in the time spent in class annually, a 30% cut in the curriculum, and the implementation of "integrated study" for children in the third grade and over in elementary school. Integrated study involves students doing work away from textbooks, such as tackling real-life problems, undertaking their own research, or having new experiences. The new Courses of Study went into effect in April 2002. And with the goal of placing greater importance on individuality and competition, students who excel in subjects like mathematics and physics have been allowed to enter universities at the age of 17 since 1998.

Following the announcement of the new Courses of Study, however, some people expressed strong criticism that they would lead to declining academic abilities. In response, the Ministry of Education explained in 1999 that the new Courses of Study were only "minimum standards," but the criticism continued to grow. Around the same time, an economist released a book titled Bunsu ga dekinai daigakusei (College students who can't do fractions), and criticism over declining academic standards emerged in economic circles and also began to be voiced in connection with elementary and middle-school students. Early entrance to universities did not seem to catch on.

Still Near the Top
So where exactly does scholastic performance in Japan rank in comparison with the rest of the world? In December 2001 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released the results of its first survey on education, which was conducted in 2000. Some 32 nations took part, and the objects of study were 15-year-old children, around the age at which compulsory education usually comes to an end in many countries. In terms of reading ability, Finland came in first place, followed by Canada. Japan ranked eighth, just behind South Korea (sixth) and Britain (seventh) and ahead of the United States (fifteenth) and Germany (twenty-first). In the subject of mathematics, Japan took the top spot and was followed by South Korea (second), Britain (eighth), the United States (nineteenth), and Germany (twentieth). Japan placed second in science, behind South Korea (first) and ahead of Britain (fourth), the United States (fourteenth), and Germany (twentieth).

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has released its own survey of students' abilities in math and science eight times since 1964. Around 40 countries, most of them developed nations, take part, and the objects of study correspond to Japan's fourth-year elementary-school students, second-year middle-school students, and third-year high-school students. Japan has taken part every time since the first survey and has consistently scored at or near the top. At the time of the most recent survey in 1999, Japanese second-year middle-school students placed fifth in mathematics and fourth in science.

The strength of Asian countries in these areas is striking. In the 1995 survey, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong occupied the top four places, and these nations plus Taiwan took the top five places in 1999.

These figures show that Japan continues as before to maintain its position as an academic superpower. There is no data on a national scale showing that the academic abilities of elementary- and middle-school students have declined. Future data will likely be a major factor in the direction of educational reform in Japan.