I Have a Question

Why do people insist the Japanese have the best school system? I grew up in the 80s and everybody talked abt how we had it too easy and we should be like the Japanese who went to school at least 8 hrs a day and then went home and did hours and hours of homework every night. It sounds like a very cruel system to me and from what I hear the adults don't even work 40 hrs a wk. So why expect kids to work over 50 hours on schoolwork? It sounds like they are punishing kids just for being kids. I could imagine the American adults who want to have the harsh Japanese system never had to work that hard as children nor would they willing to now. End of rant

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FigNewton

The school system in Japan is tough...almost to a community college level upon high school graduation. The college system, however, is far easier than the US university system with the exception of perhaps one or two universities in Japan. That's where the competition in the school system comes to play. In order to be selected to one of the decent universities, you have to be the best. And subsequently, the universities look at the better high schools to accept...which look at the better primary schools....which look to the better pre-schools.