Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1994 > PART I Chapter 1

The development of primary and secondary education in Japan began under the extremely harsh conditions of national reconstruction following World War II. Development was driven by the ideal of providing equal opportunity in education, and education spread rapidly thanks to the strong commitment of the Japanese people, together with the efforts of those involved in school education. As a result, a new system of compulsory education was firmly in place by the late 1950s. Upper secondary education continued to expand quantitatively from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, reflecting the rapid growth of the Japanese economy, and by the mid-1970s over 90% of students of the relevant age went on to upper secondary schools after completing compulsory education. Thus, in an extremely short period, upper secondary education, which had been limited to a select few before World War II, became available to virtually all children.

The quantitative expansion of primary and secondary education during this period was paralleled by efforts to achieve qualitative enhancement through revision of curriculum standards, improvement of working conditions for teaching staff, increases in staffing levels, and improvement of school facilities. As a result of these efforts, Japan has gained an international reputation for the wide coverage and high quality of its primary and secondary education.

Attention has also been drawn to a number of problems in primary and secondary education, however. These include excessive competition in entrance examinations, bullying, refusal to attend school, and insufficient experience of activities in a natural environment and in everyday life. In addition, Japan is currently experiencing a variety of social changes, including the aging of the population, the shift to an information-oriented society, and internationalization. There is strong pressure for the development of primary and secondary education enabling children to cope with these social changes appropriately.

To resolve the problems affecting primary and secondary education and foster the ability to cope appropriately with social change, it is necessary to work toward further improvement of primary and secondary education through a return to the fundamental goal, which is to provide education that places a high value on the individual. These tasks require coordinated efforts by the central government, local governments, and schools. Part 1 examines aspects of these efforts that have become particularly important issues in recent years: the transition to a five-day school week, the reform of upper secondary education, and the improvement of career guidance. Other key issues concerning primary and secondary education are examined in part 2.