Darryl G. Howery Brooklyn College o f CUNY Brooklyn, New York 11210
Chemical
Few American chemical educators have had an opportunity to learn first-hand about chemical education in Japan, a nation which is the source of almost 10% of the articles abstracted by Chemical Abstracts. The purpose of this article is to furnish an overview of the chemical educational system in Japan. We will find that the Japanese system differs in many ways from the U. S. system and is undergoing considerable change currently. To give the article continuity, we shall discuss the education which a future university chemistry staff member would be most likely to receive as he progresses up the educational ladder from kindergarten to the Doctorate. Pre-University Education in Science Until the end of World War 11, a 6-5-3 yr Enropeanbased pre-university educational system was used, with the first 8 yr heing compulsory and the last 3 yr heing equivalent to a very high-level liberal arts college for the select few. An exam in the last year of primary school determined whether one would be among that small number admitted to the 5-yr middle schools and thence to high school. Graduation from high school entailed automatic admission to a university for 3 yr of specialized training, hut admission to the hest universities was possible only via a highly competitive entrance exam. Most of the professors in present-day Japan were educated under this system which was designed only for the most capable of students. Today an American-based 6-3-3 system, preceeded by 2 or 3 yr of kindergarten and often followed by from 4-10 vr of universitv trainine. is em~loved. Educa. tion through middle schooiis compu~sory. Major policy . . decisions for the entire pre-university educational system (such as the setting of-minimum requirements) are made by the Ministry of Education in Tokyo. The details of curricula are under the jurisdiction of the Boards of Education of the prefectures and cities. Textbooks must be selected from a list approved by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry also controls the budgets of the major universities so that the entire educational system in Japan is much more centrally controlled than in the U. S. An especially important feature of pre-university education in Japan is the concentrated effort to prepare students for the entrance exams given by the prestigious universities. Let us outline the impottant'examinations. Many ambitious parents try to procure places for their children in good private kindergartens (which may entail an entrance exam). A fairly crucial exam is taken by many to gain admission t o a reputable private middle school. Three years later all students desiring admission to a high school must take an important entrance exam. Many of the high schools concentrate heavily on preparing their students for the all-important university entrance exam. This intensive, prolonged, and often expensive effort to get into the university is termed by the Japanese the "examination hell." Finally, to gain admission to a graduate school one will probably have t o take an entrance exam. Science education a t the pre-university level seems to be quite good. During the elementary-school years emphasis is placed on arithmetic. Science hooks are used in each grade with 3 and 4 hr/wk heing devoted to science in grades 1 4 and 5 and 6, respectively. Admission to a private mid?
in Japan
dle school (by means of the first of the major entrance exams) is considered by some to be essential since the chances for admission later to a good private high school are much improved. In middle school, 4 hr/wk are devoted to science, covering in the 3 yr six credits of physicschemistry and six credits of biology-earth science. Both sequences include some laboratory work. Competition to get into the highly regarded private and public high schools (those which have the best re~utations for placing a high percentage of their graduates in the major universities) is intense. Science and math training in the eood hieh schools is the most intensivelv taught portion of the Japanese educational system. In high school 12 to about 18 credits of science are taken bv anvone seeking university admission. Currently the potential scientist takes six credits of chemistry and six credits of physics, each sequence taking 2 yr. The quality of laboratory training varies greatly from school to school. Biology is rarely taken by the pre-chemist. Six credits of math are required of everyone in the 10th year, and between five and say 12 additional credits are taken by all pre-university students during the last 2 yr. The 11th-yr course covers the elements of calculus. It appears that a graduate of a good Japanese high school can he as well prepared in science and math as many American students with 2 yr of college. English is the important foreign language. The typical scientist studies English for a t least 8 yr starting with middle school and usually concluding after the second year at the university. The university entrance exam includes a major section on written English. Most Japanese chemists can read English quite well, but lack proficiency in conversational English.
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University Undergraduate Training in Chemistry So intense is the desire to get into the prestigious university that some of the best private high schools use the senior year entirely for preparation for the university entrance exam. The number of private high schools is large; about half the students admitted to the major universities are graduates of private high schools. Numerous special university-prep schools have been established t o furnish desired additional training. Attending an institution of higher learning is almost as wide spread in Japan as in the U.S. About one and a quarter million students attend Japan's almost 400 universities (75 national, 33 public (local), the rest private). In addition, about 200,000 are enrolled in the over 400 iunior colleees which offer 2-vr terminal programs. The desire for uni;ersity entrance p&vades the thoughts of the ambitious students. Admission to a major uniGersity is almost essential for the aspiring chemist since nearly all chemistry staff members a t the first-rank universities as well as most of the leaders in the Japanese chemical industry must be graduates of one of the small number of select universities. Though Japan has a vast higher educational system, the scientific sector which really counts is quite small. Only about 25 universities confer doctorates in chemistry. The most prestigious scientific universities are for the most part the former elite Imperial Universities (now the National Universities)-Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Tohoku in Sendai, Kyushu in Fukuoka, and Hokkaido in Volume 50, Number 10, October 1973
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Sapporo. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Tohoku, and Nagoya are mentioned most often as having the best chemistry departments. Hiroshima, Osaka City, Osaka Prefectural, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo Metropolitan, and Tokyo Educational are other schools having respected chemistry departments. Traditionally Tokyo especially and Kyoto have enjoyed the greatest overall support and prestige for their scientific programs, though funds are distributed rather evenly these days. Undergraduate admission carries extra significence in Japan because the majority of chemists continue their advanced work a t the same university. University entrance exams are given by the various Faculties of a university-Science, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Science, Agriculture, Medicine, Letters, Law, Economics, and Education. The exams seem to he quite fair but the pressure on the student is great. One interesting feature is that a future chemist might elect to take the entrance exam in any one of the first five Faculties listed above. The needs of the r a.~ i d l verowine- Jananese . economy have been met in part by the establishing of chemistni departments more ~ r a c t i c a land/or s~ecialized than th&e of the Faculties o
