Education inequality in Japan

What is education inequality?

Education inequality is the unequal distribution of academic resources and opportunities for all sections of society. Educational inequality may be expressed in terms of unequal school funding and a person's circumstances, such as gender, wealth, ethnicity, and where they live. As a result of this unjust mechanism, some individuals may benefit less from the education system than their peers. 

 What are the problems in Japan?

Inequality in Japan's education system has become one of the increasing problems in the country with the highest literacy in the world. In 2018, a survey was held among parents where 62.3% of respondents felt that equality in a child's education is not acceptable for everyone. The latest survey- Nippon by the Tokyo-based NGO Nippon Foundation has estimated that 58.6 % of respondents aged 17 to 19 felt there were educational inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the recent years, the gap in the education system has only risen, so what is eventually causing the education inequality in Japan?

What are the causes of this inequality? 

Sociocultural beliefs 

Japan's education inequality is deeply rooted in the sociocultural perspective of parents about their child's education. Many parents in Japan believe that studying in a high-ranked prestigious school potentially ensures their child's future success. A total of 73.0% strongly or somewhat agreed that "Early learning/education from the preschool stage is important to a child's future." 

Most Japanese children begin their education at a very young age, often as young as three years old, and their parents are determined to enroll them in a suitable school. In addition, many families also enroll their children in extracurricular activities, which have become popular to apply to Japanese Universities.

In the meantime, wealthier families who value education face several challenges for their children starting at age six in elementary school. These families invest significant time and resources in their children's education from a young age and often send them to Escalator Schools that offer a higher quality education. These schools require competitive and hard entrance exams that test academic knowledge, social skills, coordination, and comprehension abilities. However, the tuition for these schools is costly, with fees reaching up to 1,863,085 yen, excluding additional costs of uniforms and supplies. As a result, this widens educational inequality, as families with lower incomes cannot afford such schools and miss out on opportunities. Even if these families wish to enroll their children in prestigious preschools, they would require an enormous amount of investment for extra academic support for their child to be fully prepared for the entrance examination tests.

Heredity of High education:

According to the OECD, in Japan, only 57% of children from low-income families attend pre-primary education, compared to 75% of children from high-income families. Furthermore, in 2016, the university attendance rate for children from the highest income quintile was 78%, compared to only 38% for children from families with the lowest income. Based on these findings, it has been acknowledged that children with wealthier parents are more advantageous to study in highly ranked preschools, schools, and universities, which in Japan can assure you better jobs and income in the future. However, because the government provides public education, it doesn't guarantee any chances to succeed in higher education in the future.

Additionally, In Japan, it is believed that educational opportunities should be open only for students that demonstrate high abilities and motivation; meanwhile, providing the same opportunities to children with low academic feedback and interest would be a waste of the school's resources. This unequal allocation of resources is also caused by the lack of teachers in Japan, which in 2020 has equaled over 2,500 unfilled positions for special education teachers in public elementary, junior high, and high schools nationwide.

What effect does it create on the economy?

Poverty cycle

To conclude, it is clear that many households in Japan focus on the "ranking" and "label" of the school that their child attends. Therefore, if your daughter or son goes to a school with a good reputation, there is a probability that she/ he will get into a better job with a high position and salary. As a result, an educational poverty cycle is created where wealthier families bring their children into better educational facilities, which guarantee to get a "good" job. At the same time, children from low-income households are doomed to be less successful than their peers. This creates an endless poverty cycle in the education system, widening the poverty and inequality gap in Japan's education system.

Written by Ulpan Nurdilda | Proofread by Yasmin Uzykanova