Last-Modified:2/28/2018
Japanese schools start in April and end in March every year. What is more, the school year is divided up into several terms (semesters), and schools adopt structures whereby they split the year up into two or three semesters.
In Japan, students sequentially advance onto studies in the higher grades from the grade they entered at . When advancing onto higher education after completing compulsory education, students usually sit for a new student screening exam.
The textbooks used for studies are provided to each and every student in elementary and junior high schools, and the elementary and junior high sections of special needs schools, free of charge from the government in each new school year. But the government does not provide these free of charge for senior high schools and the senior high school sections of special needs schools.
Schools also use other supplementary learning materials aside from textbooks, but they must pay the costs needed to purchase these themselves.
At many elementary schools, the pupils that live nearby form groups with one another and walk together en masse to arrive at school.
After arriving at school, the children gather in their assigned classrooms, where they check on the schedule for the day with their homeroom teacher.
Classes are held in the children’s assigned classrooms. At elementary schools, instruction is primarily provided by homeroom teachers, while at junior and senior high schools instruction is provided mainly by teachers for each subject instead.
Once classes finish, the children return to their own classroom, where they listen as their homeroom teacher discusses the schedule for the following day, before saying their farewells and leaving school.
In most cases, elementary and junior high schools provide school lunches as part of the school’s educational activities. For the school lunches, the children set the table and clean up afterwards themselves. In addition, having everyone assemble together to enjoy a nutritionally-balanced meal teaches the students the proper way to hold meals and desirable human relations, thereby furnishing them with various creative approaches for leading healthy lives throughout their lifetime.
Parents bear the costs for the food and ingredients.
At Japanese schools, everyone divides up the work of cleaning the classrooms, schoolyards, and other facilities they use until they are neat and tidy.
At junior and senior high schools, as well as some elementary schools, students who so desire can take part in athletic or cultural activities after school (after classes are over).
School Curriculum in Japan (School life)PDF [451.5KB]
