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2006 Education spending in Japan at all-time high

December 24, 2007
By Ken Worsley


The Ministry of Education, Sports, Science and Culture recently made available the results of a survey into education costs in Japan that reveals while education spending in Japan has hit an all-time high, there may be further evidence of a growing social divide in those numbers. We’ve heard talk about a gap between urban and rural areas, as well as the growth of the income gap over the past few years. Now we’re wondering if talk may begin over the possibility of ‘education gaps’ in Japan, and what effect that might have on Japan’s economy in the future.

According to the report, at households with an annual income of 12 million yen or more, an annual average of 271,000 yen per elementary or junior high school student was spent on tuition fees for cram schools, which help prepare students for junior high and high school entrance examinations. On the other hand, at households with income of less than 4 million yen, an average 98,000 yen per child was spent on such schools.

In terms of total education costs, including regular school tuition and cram schools, another marked difference revealed itself. While parents spent 1.37 million yen annually per child for those students who attend private school, 330,000 yen was spent on students attending public school.

The report also found that just over 60% of households with at least one child in a private elementary or junior high school had an income above ten million yen, while only 17% of households with at least one child in a public elementary or junior high school were above that income level.

What we would like to know is how standardized test scores break down between the public/private school line. That, however, may not be what parents are paying for anyway. What we’d really like to know is what percentage of students does each type of school send to prestigious four year universities?

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Comments

2 Responses to “2006 Education spending in Japan at all-time high”

  1. malle on December 25th, 2007 1:01 pm

    So we find out that scores on standardized high school test fell in comparison to other nations, and that educational spending is at all-time highs.

    Sounds like the schools are broken. Did that plan to re-certify teachers ever go through?

  2. Garrett on January 9th, 2008 6:05 am

    Malle, standardized test scores fell one or two places on some tests because there were more participating countries. Scores themselves stayed the same.

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