The Impact of Educational System in Economic Progress of Japan

A Critical Analysis

By: Ruffa Mae B. Salinas

In general, there is a huge impact of molding the future inside schools for the reason that
these young men are the ones to mold the economy where they will serve after several years of
schooling. In Japan, the land of the Rising Sun, the primary reason why they are pushing to have
school reforms is because they are striving for national economic competitiveness.

Japan is much known as having one of the world’s compelling success stories in
education. According to OECD PISA, the leading international test of competence among 15-
year-old school students, Japan consistently takes the spotlight among the international top-
performing systems with regard to the quality of learning outcomes, equity in the distribution of
learning opportunities and value of money. Japan’s devotion to education made their economic
status grow despite being devastated way back post-war period. But due to their high-quality
human capital, by playing the key role in the production of high-grade technology and high
value-added products, they were able to drive up the status of their economy that from humble
figures, it blossomed into being one of the world’s economic giants.

There are many distinctive features of the Japanese education system, although it was
adopted from certain developed countries, it was nevertheless capable of establishing its own
identity with varying characteristics such as, but not limited to giving high valuation to customs
and traditions. Ichikawa (1990: 1) explained that children of Japan are largely preoccupied with
their schooling and in turn influenced significantly by their school-based education, not to
mention culture. This leads us to the immediate repercussion of all these things - that Japanese
people have become reasonably submissive to their elderly and most especially to the
government. Indeed, the Japanese government has played such a huge role as we contemporize
their magnificent outputs. Their immense passion to live up with their standards has led to the
intensive funding and development of the sector where all the students get the access to quality
education. They see to it that the institution is equally and as far as possible, perfectly developed
in all forms. Further, these schools uniquely adopt their respective screening schemes to gauge
the capability of their prospective students along with the standardized practice of autonomous
school management. Given these outcomes, these attributes may be considered as the most
effective way of securing, if not imposing, the participation of each and every student towards
nation building and their ever growing economy.

After all, I believe that one way to educational success, like in Japan, as their time-
honored traditional belief says, all the children can be achievers. Japanese people tend to give
premium to education on the aspiration of ultimately having an institution that hones civic-
spirited and socio-politically competent individuals and invalidates the conventional method of
systematically generating educational contents just for the sole and empty goal of obtaining
college degrees.