EDUCATION-JAPAN: Parents Herd Children to International Schools

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jul 27 2003 (IPS) - Masami Takahashi and her husband, Kenichi, are saving hard for their children’s education, which they insist must be in international schools here in Japan.

"Our five-year-old boy is in an international kindergarten and our daughter is in first grade at another school,” says Masami. ”We decided to do this so they could adapt to the global environment.”

The Takahashis, who have the choice of sending their children to free public Japanese schools, decided to fork out close to 40,000 U.S. dollars annually to pay for both their children’s education in international schools.

The money is steep – certainly so in Japan, one of the world’s most expensive countries, so that Masami has been to look for part-time work to keep their children in international schools. Another lingering concern, say the parents, is the fact that Japan’s education law that does not accredit foreign schools, limiting college options for their children to those overseas.

Still, Masami, who herself studied in the United States, say she has no regrets about their decision to go to extra lengths to ensure an international education for her children – like many other Japanese parents today.

"Japanese education is not going to prepare them for working in foreign countries. The cultural gap is deep," explains Masami.

The popularity of international schools is rising in Japan despite the high standards of local education that make Japanese children some of the best students in the world, experts concede. This is because many parents want their youngsters adjusted early to a multicultural setting and become more creative, assertive thinkers and more aware of issues beyond the country.

"Younger parents want their children to be equipped with an international outlook and social skills that put them on par with their foreign counterparts," explains Katushiro Tanifuji, a former principal of a public junior high school.

But while these aspirations are high, they remain hard to meet within the Japanese educational system.

"Despite important changes to internationalise, schooling is still heavily focused on preparing students for university rather than fostering their individuality and creativity," says Tamotsu Sengoku, director of the Japan Research Council on Youth and Education.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, reports there are 121 registered foreign schools in Japan, but estimates that the number is higher given the emergence of many new small schools and kindergartens promoting ‘western-style’ education.

The schools employ mostly western teachers and teach in English. The student body is a mixture of foreign and Japanese, and school fees tend to be more than double of private Japanese schools.

"The attraction is learning English at a young age and mixing with children of other races. We receive the largest number of applications from Japanese," says Carol Lanley, a teacher from the United States at Greg International, which runs a series of preschools teaching in English.

Traditionally proud of its homogeneity, Japan has not been too kind to foreign schools as shown by a policy on international schools that has been described as discriminatory.

"Foreign schools are treated as a special schools in Japan," says Dai Tomiyama, in charge of international schools at the education ministry. "We have to carefully examine the move to extend equal status."

For instance, although some non-Japanese schools have been operating here for many decades, such as the North Korea school for descendants of ethnic Koreans – who already feel discriminated against – local regulations firmly exclude these students from gaining a foothold in mainstream Japan.

For example, high school graduates of western schools and many schools in Japan catering to Koreans and Chinese who have lived in the country for decades are still required to take readmission tests for national universities.

Until 1999, children attending Korean and Chinese schools were not allowed to enjoy discounts on their commutes on public transport because of the lack of accreditation of their schools.

Bitter criticism over the years has brought some important changes.

The finance and education ministries are now planning to extend preferential tax treatment to donors of schools offering recognised Western school curricula, a move that is expected to reduce expensive tuition fees.

Still, the government is refusing to extend these same benefits to schools for other ethnic groups in Japan. There are several new institutions such as the Brazil School, catering to an influx of immigrants and growing mixed marriages in Japan.

At the same time, to counter the growing popularity of internationalisation, local schools are promising to have new programmes promoting English and employing foreign teachers to change what parents complain is the rigid structure in Japanese schools.

For example, the Chuo High School, based in Gumma, northern Japan, started in April to teach music and culture in English under a new programme called ‘global education’.

Some schools are also encouraging exchange programmes with international schools, a new feature that is proving immensely popular.

In fact, the education ministry is now having its new department, launched in 1989, catch up with ‘understanding foreign culture’ by allowing flexibility in school curricula.

Programmes include now poverty eradication, environment, human rights and other international topics for students in both junior high and high schools, in an effort to make younger Japanese more aware of issues outside their communities and their country.

"Japanese schools have to meet the changing times and nurturing children in a globalised environment is very important," says Yuji Kondo, an official in the department.