Educational Standards in Japan

Abstract

In this chapter we set out the evidence on educational standards in Japan compared with those in the economically advanced nations of the West. In making comparisons of this kind the range of academic subjects for which comparisons can be made is necessarily restricted, because for many subjects different curricula are taught in different countries. For instance, school children learn principally the literature and history of their own countries and there is no meaningful way in which, for instance, Japanese children’s knowledge of the literature and history of Japan can be compared with British children’s knowledge of the literature and history of Britain. International comparisons of educational standards therefore have to be confined to mathematics, science and reading, where the curriculum is at least broadly the same in all economically advanced nations.