Yutori

5 Pages 1301 Words

Japan has certainly made remarkable progress in the post-war period, which can partly be attributed to the work of education. However, in the present, Japan is facing various problems in the education system. Those include but are not limited to, school violence, bullying, class collapse, and decrease in academic ability. Most of the comments made by the media over-exaggerate the issue about todayfs gknife-wielding monstersh but it is still a serious issue nonetheless and many are voicing shock about the recent increase of violence, bullying, and suicide in the schools.
According to a survey result by Tokyo metropolitan government, the ratio of 2nd year students in high school who donft study at all at home was 35% in 1995, and it increased to 43% in 1998. It was found that 80% of students at top-level universities could not solve quadratic equations at the junior high school level and 20% could not calculate fractional and decimal expressions at the elementary school level.
What to do when a teenager suddenly goes berserk? How should parents, teachers, and adults in general respond? A wave of violence against teachers has given new urgency to the question, gWhat do children want, and what do they need that they arenft getting?h
In response to serious concerns about childrenfs learning, the Ministry of Education has been implementing so-called Yutori no Kyoiku (‚ä‚Æ‚è‚Ì‹³ˆç) or geducation with room to growh at elementary and secondary schools. School days were shorterned from six days a week to five days. Teaching contents have been reduced by about 30% for each academic year in the new Courses of Study. The basic aim of the new Courses of Study is to cultivate in children a gzest for livingh (¶‚«‚é—Í), including the ability to learn and think by themselves. It is explained that childrenfs academic ability will not improve if knowledge is merely taught in a one-sided manner. It ...