b. General Outline of the School System

Elementary schools were to function as the agents for elementary education and everyone was expected to attend. There were several different types: ordinary elementary schools (jinjo shogaku), elementary schools for girls, village elementary schools, elementary schools for the poor, private elementary schools (shogaku shijuku) and elementary schools for infants. The ordinary elementary schools constituting the basic unit of the system were to be divided into upper and lower divisions and, in principle, both boys and girls were expected to complete both levels. The lower division was to last for four years from the age of six to nine and the upper division was to continue for another four years through the age of thirteen. The appropriate curriculum was also outlined in the Education System Order.

Elementary schools for girls were to offer a course of study identical with that of ordinary elementary schools except for the addition of handicrafts. Village elementary schools were to be established for communities in remote areas and the curriculum was to be somewhat abbreviated. Elementary schools for the poor were to offer instruction to underprivileged children while private elementary schools were to be maintained by licensed instructors in their own homes. Elementary schools for infants were to offer courses preparatory to elementary schools for children under six. Schools whose curriculum did not conform with that of the ordinary elementary school were to be named irregular elementary schools; among these schools private institutions operated at the residence of individual instructors were to be called kajuku.

Middle schools were to provide general subjects for students who had completed an elementary school. The basic academic type of middle school was to be divided into two levels with the lower division accepting students for three years from the age of fourteen through sixteen and the upper division accepting students for three years from seventeen through nineteen. Subjects for these middle schools were enumerated in the Education System Order. In addition to the academic type of middle school there were to be various vocational middle schools specializing in subjects such as technology, commerce, interpretation, agriculture and popular education.

Those middle schools of academic type whose curriculum did not conform with the standards because of the lack of teaching materials and those specializing in subjects such as foreign languages and medicine and having departed from the conventional curriculum specified in the Order were to be called irregular middle schools. Private middle schools (chugaku shijuku) were to be housed in private residences of those teachers who were licensed whereas instructors of kajuku were not. Schools where foreigners taught were also classified as middle schools so long as the curriculum was of a pre-university level.

According to the original provisions of the Education System Order when it was proclaimed on September 4, 1872, the universities were to offer specialized courses of a higher level, and their curriculum could include science, chemistry, law, medicine and mathematics; but soon thereafter on the 27th of that same month a revision of these provisions provided for the creation of the four courses of science, literature, law and medicine.

The three-level educational system which came into effect with the Education System Order was modified by supplementary regulations on April 28, 1873, authorizing specialized schools and foreign language schools. These regulations provided that all "higher level schools offering instruction by foreign teachers" would be referred to as specialized schools, and admission to preparatory courses of these schools would be open to those students of at least sixteen years of age who had completed the two-year lower course of a foreign language school. Regular courses of specialized schools could admit students who had gone through three years of their preparatory courses. The length of the regular courses varied from two to four years. Foreign language schools were to provide a lower course of two years and an upper course of two years. Those who completed the lower course were eligible either to advance to the upper course or to proceed to specialized schools.

Among the provisions of the Education System Order, Chapter 39 for the creation of normal schools was considered of particular importance in assuring the effectiveness of elementary education at that time. According to the Education System Order, elementary school teachers could be of either sex, be at least twenty years of age and be in possession of a normal school or middle school diploma. Middle school teachers were expected to be at least 25 years of age and be in possession of a university diploma whereas university instructors were required to have a bachelor's degree.

Another important provision of the Education System Order stated that examinations would be the sole means of promotion from one grade to the next. Proof of successful completion of these examinations was required, and the final examination leading to graduation from each level was to be especially rigorous.