EDUCATION SYSTEMS OF THE PHILIPPINES AND JAPAN: A

COMPARATIVE STUDY

Lance Christian B. San Pedro

Kurt Aldrich B. Abarro

Christopher Gabriel M. Liao

Introduction

The Japanese education system was regarded as the longest, at 243, while the Philippines, has

200 days under the Basic Education Curriculum. The education systems of Japan and the

Philippines are different in terms of various aspects of education.

According to Johnson (1996), Japanese students spend 240 days on school, more than the 180

days of American students, at 60. Pawilen and Sumida (2005) noted that the goal of the science

curriculum of Philippines and Japan share the same concern in developing skills; however they

are different in terms of focus and emphasis. However, the aforementioned articles have not yet

brought their studies of comparing education systems in a broad manner. This includes the

academic subjects and the social, mental, and political issues in the respective curriculum.

This paper aims to do the following: compare the various aspects: school year length, school

grades, and the like of the Japanese and the Philippine education systems, and to scan for various

aspects of Japanese education system that the Philippines can learn from, and vice versa. The

elementary level ( shgakk) until the middle school level ( chgakk) for Japan

and the elementary to high school level for the Philippines are used as case studies for this

research.
Methodology

The aim of this research is to compare the Philippines and Japans education systems in a wider

extent: school grades, curriculum framework, and socio-economic issues, as well as scan for

positive aspects of Japanese education that the Philippines can learn from, and vice versa.

First, a brief history of Philippine and Japanese education was discussed. Next, the aspects of

education: primary language, academic subjects, school year length, and school grades, based on

factual details, were listed, explained, and discussed according to comparison. Third, the socio-

economic and mental issues of students under the two education systems were discussed as well.

Finally, positive aspects of the Japanese education system in which the Philippines can learn

from its present system were listed and discussed, and vice versa.

Qualitative (descriptive) and quantitative (statistical) data were used for this research.
Results and Discussion

To begin this part of the research paper, a brief history of the education of Philippines and Japan

are to be presented; then a definition of curriculum is stated, as well as stating a purpose for

creating a curriculum, followed by a discussion of ideologies of education of the two countries.

Next, a table of elementary and high school curricula of the basic education of Philippines and

Japan are to be presented, followed by explanations and discussions. Then, a comparison of the

framework of education is enumerated and discussed. Finally, various issues of the two systems:

academic, social, and the like, are to be explained and discussed, as well as comparisons in-

between.

History Japan

During the feudal period, many private educational institutions already existed. These included

the terakoya (), private temple schools, and special schools specialized for the samurai

class established by the daimyo (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1992). This implies that public

education in Japan never existed until the Meiji Restoration.

The Meiji Restoration brought Western ideals to Japanese education, as Encyclopedia Britannica

(1978) states that many of the points of the Japanese educational system were derived from the

European continental systems, notably the German system.

History Philippines

Education in the Philippines was unstructured, informal, and devoid of methods before the

Spaniards arrived, instead making further emphasis on vocational education and less in academic

performance.
The colonization of the Spaniards brought a change to the unstructured education system, with a

transition from vocation-oriented education to religion-oriented education. However, education

was not for everyone, but rather for the elites; it was lifted when public education was introduced

by the Educational Decree of 1863.

Following the defeat of the Spaniards by the Americans, the education system was modified

under the Schurman Commission, and used English as the medium of instruction. In World War

II, emphasis on love for work was made by the Japanese occupants in the Philippines (Historical

Perspective of the Philippine Educational System, n.d.). This implies that the education of the

Philippines changed from time to time as colonizers changed, as well as changes in emphasis of

education.

The ideology of education

Education is a necessity of building a persons character through developing ones personality

uniquely, improving ability, independency, and pursuing a happy life; at the same time, it also

embarks on a mission to nurture the citizens who form the country and the society (MEXT, n.d.).

The Japanese treat education as very important, which is the reason why the country has the

highest literacy rates in the world (Grolier, 1990). In the case of Philippines, Filipinos have a

deep point of view of education, in which it is treated as the main street of further social and

economic mobility. This was materialized from the Americans due to their colonial rule, where

the ideal of democratic society in which individuals could get ahead through good educational

attainment (Country Studies, n.d.).

It can be inferred that Japan and the Philippines share the same point of view, in which education

is the road to further mobility of a country.

The core for the existence of society is education, and it is not an exaggeration to say that

Japans future depends on education itself, as the Ministry of Education of Japan says (n.d.). This

ideology of education is not for Japan alone, as it is also the core for Philippines and the other

countries.

Education has been looked into as the means of alleviating poverty, reducing crime, increasing

economic benefits, and ultimately upping the standard of living of the Filipino masses (Durban

& Catalan, 2012). This is somehow the same in the American ideal adopted by the Filipinos.

There are numerous definitions of curriculum, which can be confusing. In the wider route, the

term is used to refer all of the courses offered in a single school (WiseGeek, n.d.). The following

section lists down the curricula framework of Philippines and Japan.

Curriculum - Japan

What is the aim of organizing a curriculum? To attain the educational goals of local schools is

the target (Komatsu, 2002). This is not just the case of Japans schools only, but also for

Philippine schools.

The ministry of education, whose director is a member of the Prime Ministers cabinet,

establishes the curricula of elementary, middle, and high schools (Ike, 1999)1. Table 1 shows the

elementary school curriculum of Japan, as stated by the Board of Education of Tokyos Shinjuku

Ward2.
 Table 1. Elementary school curriculum of Japan.

Social studies begins in the third grade. Life studies is from grades 1 and 2, and changed into

Science from grade 3 onwards. Home economics classes begin on the fifth grade, and is

integrated into technology classes on middle school. Integrated studies (IS) begins on the third

grade, which mandates teachers to conduct activities to spur creativity with the goal of

cultivating the capabilities of students in living. Clubs are introduced on the fourth grade.

Table 2 states the junior high school curriculum of Japan as per Tokyos Shinjuku Ward Board

of Education2.
 Table 2. Junior high/middle school curriculum of Japan.

The junior high school curriculum adds electives, subjects that are optional to students. However,

in electives, there are more specific courses from the required subjects. Integrated studies (IS)

from elementary continues to this level.

Curriculum Philippines

Major subjects include math, science, English, Filipino, and social sciences, with music, arts,

physical education, and health as optional ones (Classbase, n.d.)3. It is implied that music, arts,

PE, and health are somewhat in contrast to the Japanese system, where the mentioned subjects

are required, wherein the Philippines treat it as electives only.

The secondary education comprises of 4 grades that have been changed since World War II

(Classbase, n.d.)3.
Education framework

Japanese students spend 240 days at school, 60 days more than their American counterparts

(Johnson & Johnson, 1996). It is inferred that this long length is due to various reasons: holidays,

school festivals, as well as attendances on Saturdays. An order of Department of Education

(2014) states that there are 201 school days as of SY 2014-2015. By comparing the number of

school days of the two countries, it is implied that Japanese students spend more time on schools

due to the inclusion of Saturday attendance, which is absent in the Philippines, however in some

cases.

Classes in Philippine schools start in June and end in March (Florido, n.d.); classes in Japanese

schools begin in April and end in March (Tokyo International Communication Committee, n.d.).

This is due to their distinct seasonal changes, where Philippines breaks the school year due to

summer, whereas Japan creates a hiatus due to spring break, lasting for forty days.

Most Japanese schools run in three semesters (Hughes, n.d.). The Department of Education

(2014) states that the school year of the Philippines are as follows, in Table 3:
 Table 3. Breakdown of Philippine school year, SY 2014-2015.

In the table, the entire school calendar of the Philippine system is divided into four quarters, with

the 1st on June to the first half of August, the 2nd on the second half of August until late October,

the 3rd on November to January, with a Christmas break on December, and the 4th quarter starts

on February to late March. This is in contrast to Japans breakdown: with the 1st term from April

to August with a summer break, a 2nd term from September to December, followed by a

Christmas break, and the last term from January to March, and a spring break to culminate.

Until the age of 15, primary education is compulsory for the first nine years (New Standard

Encyclopedia, n.d.), which is required by Japanese law, as Ike (1999)1 states. The timetable of

gimukyoiku(compulsory education) is 9 years: with 6 years in elementary (shogakko) and 3 years

in middle school (chugakko) (Abe, n.d.). However, the nine-year compulsory system is not
mandatory to immigrants, so they have to submit an application to the city/ward/town/village

educational board to request the enrollment, as Yamamoto (2014)4 states.

Table 4 lists the school grades of the Japanese education system, based on Classbase:

Table 4. Japanese education systems grade levels. Note that high school was not included, as it

is outside the case subjects of the paper.

Philippine elementary education is compulsory until the 6th grade (in urban areas), or at the 4th

grade (in rural localities) (Philippines/People (Comptons Encyclopedia), 1982).

The following table lists the school grades of the Philippine education system, by Classbase3:

Table 5. Philippine education system grade levels.

To compare the two, it is implied that the Philippine education system lacks the middle school

level, and follows a 6-4 model, in contrast to Japanese system where it has a middle school

sector and follows a 6-3-3 model (including high school, kotogakko).

The length of compulsory education in the two countries differ in length, as NationMasters 2000

data states, in Table 6:

 Table 6. Compulsory education length of Philippines and Japan, 2000.

Japan

Akihisa (2012), a principal of Wada Junior High School in Suginami-ku of Tokyo, states that

one of the most dominant trends of reforming Japanese education is the idea of

yutorikyoiku(), or education that gives room to grow, and was based on the idea of

reducing the burden placed on children by their studies, allowing greater variability and helping

to have more freedom of thinking.

As Akihisa (2012) points out, yutorikyoiku has been a recent topic for decades, and has been an

issue in the system and can be the stepping stone behind Japans declining academic

performance. However, Wadas students motivation to study under yutori is in contrast to the

common feedback of Japanese citizens, as stated in Figure 1:

 Figure 1. Graph showing motivation to study over the three-year period. Under yutori, 2010

data.

The graph shows that motivation of students to study increased from 5.1 to 10.1 as the

yutorisystem was introduced to Wada, reasoning increased from -3.9 to 4.9 by the year 2010, and

perseverance to studies further increased from 3.0, to a staggering 9.8, based on a deviation from

average in other schools in Suginami-ku.

Judging by the graph, it is implied that yutori has become effective for easing up the minds of the

children and increased motivation on their studies. This has been in contrast to the complaints of

teachers and guardians in yutori, stating that academic performance will decline if the policy is
enacted. Wadas students performance in subjects has further contradicted the complaints of

declining academic performance under yutori, as stated in Figure 2:

Figure 2. Graph showing scholastic performance figures of Wada Jr. High prior and under

yutori.

Based on the graph, it can be inferred that yutori contradicted the idea of the people about

decline of academic performance. The 2011 school year is under yutori, and has shown a 4.8

rating on Japanese performance, a 5.1 on Mathematics, and 8.9 on English performance, which

further proves that yutorican improve a students performance, due to the concept of making

room for relaxation.

Hood (1997) states that one of the most controversial reforms of Japanese education is the

proposed relaxation of the school district system. Under the present law, children attending

public schools go to the school nearest their home. Due to the law, it can be inferred as the

reason of a high population density per Japanese classroom; this goes for the case in the

Philippines too.

Ike (1999)1 states that schooling can be a tense and stressful ordeal, because failure of admission

to the right school, or kindergarten, can be a threat to ones career prospects in adult life, as the

Japanese youth states. In short, the Japanese youth takes studying seriously as it affects their

careers in adult life, as opposed to the Philippine youth.

At evening, elementary and junior high school students are at large to tutor themselves, or

cram at evening schools, or juku, with the hopes to improve performance in college entrance

tests (AsianInfo.org, n.d.). This is in contrast to the Philippines, as Filipino students never go to

evening schools to study and cram; it is implied that Japanese students are pressured by their

studies to the point that they have to cram at evening rather than stay at home, leading to the so-

called examination wars, as well as the enactment of the yutorikyoikupolicy as stated by

Akihisa (2012), which affected performance of students positively and may reduce the cramming

issue.

Absenteeism is a common issue in Japanese schools, as stated in Table 7, from fiscal years 1965-

2011, from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
 Table 7. Number of absentees from fiscal years 1965-2011, Japan.

Based on the table, 2000 is the year where the number of absentees are at large, whereas 1970

has the lowest, at 61,921 students. 117,517 students declare that they are absent because of

school refusal. With this number, it could be inferred that bullying may be the core of this
alarming number, counting immigrants and Japanese mixed nationals. Peer relations, bullying

and lack of peers are the main reasons of absenteeism of foreign-national children in Japan

(Yamamoto, 2014)4. This may imply a relation between the high number of students reported as

absent (see Table 7).

Ijime () is the Japanese term for bullying, and is distinct from the Western context of

bullying, where in the West, it is caused by psychological cruelty. 80% of ijime counts as

collective violence, which involves the victim versus the entire class, and ongoing cases

account for 90%, lasting for a week, or 7 days (This Japanese Life, 2013). Flores (2014) says in a

news report that Department of Education secretary Bro. Armin Luistro states that violence takes

many forms: peer-to-peer bullying, gender-based discrimination, physical assault, psychological

punishment, public ridicule, and sexual harassment.

Figure 3 shows the trend of bullying cases from FY 1986-1993, and another table for 1994-2004.

For 1994-2004 statistics, a new methodology of surveying was introduced by MEXT in 1994.
 Fig 3. Trends of bullying cases, Japan, FY 86-93, 94-2004.

Judging on the tables data, there has been a high decline on the two fiscal year ranges. Pre-1994

data shows that 1986 has been a trend on bullying, accounting for nearly 53,000 cases. Post-1994

data shows the 1995 shows exactly 60,000 cases of bullying, and has undergone a decline in the

following years.

It can be inferred that bullying undergoes a decline in years 1987-1993, and 1996-2004, due to

various reasons: aging population, high rate of absenteeism (see Table 3), and many others that

decreased the trend.

MEXT reported that 70,231 cases of bullying were reported in 2011, where Kumamoto

Prefecture has the most prevalent reports of bullying, at 32.9 cases per 1000 children, followed

by Oita, at 18.3 cases at the same scale. Saga has the lowest reports of all 47 prefectures at 0.6

per 1000, followed by Fukushima Prefecture by 0.8, as Japan Today (2012) reports. Judging by
the given data, the prefectural board of education of Kumamoto should make countermeasures to

eradicate the alarming cases per 1000 children that affect school attendance and academic

performance, and also in the case of Oita, such as the treatment of bullying as crime, for

example, in the Philippines.

Issues of foreigners in Japanese education are widespread in Japan. Yamamoto (2014) says that

the marginal status of immigrants as gaijin can affect Japanese students views about immigrant

students and their interactions with them. This implies that immigrant students are treated as

outcasts by native Japanese students and are often the victims of bullying, which is absent in the

Philippines.

Because of their distant racial, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds, immigrants are the easiest

targets for ijime (Yamamoto, 2014)4. This is an alarming issue among immigrants studying in

Japan, however not in the Philippines, as Philippines values immigrants equally. It may also

imply on homogeneity and egalitarianism, where Japan prevails, in contrast to the Philippines

hospitable culture absent in Japan.

Philippines

The constitution of the Philippines mandates that most of the budget must be allocated to

education (Park.org, n.d.), however, many children still never receive education as there are

insufficient funds (Philippines/People, 1982), in reality, most of the budget goes to the payment

of debts (Sunio, 2014). This is somehow alarming in the Philippines as it continues until today,

and grows as the years pass, may be a reference to the high dropout rates in elementary schools.

Seven Filipino students share a textbook per subject, and to achieve a 1:1 ratio of textbook usage,

92.8 million textbooks are needed to be procured by the government (Trends, Issues, and
Policies in Philippine Education, n.d.). This is a very controversial issue among public schools in

the Philippines, and is implied that the government should do proper measures and cover up

funds as stated by the 1987 Constitution for textbook procurement. This is absent in Japan

however, with every public school able to procure textbooks for its students.
Conclusion

The importance of education is very high for the Japanese, which makes their country highly

literate. However, despite the recognition of being a good education system, their homogeneity

has brought their education system to a downfall, preferably immigrants. The result is a high rate

of absenteeism in several schools around the 47 prefectures of Japan.

The researcher aims to not just compare the educational systems of Philippines and Japan, but

also to find aspects of each system that each country can learn from. Filipinos also value

education highly, as a result, they also have high literacy rates, however in certain areas, unlike

in Japan where the whole country is literate. Bullying among immigrants is widespread in Japan,

however in the Philippines, it is not much. There are some positive aspects of the Philippine

education system that Japan can learn from: Filipinos never experience exam wars to be

admitted to college, and the openness of Filipinos to immigrants, which Japan lacks. The

Philippine education system can learn some aspects of Japanese education which many benefit

the country: the Japanese emphasize themselves on studying (tsukemomi), and the inclusion of

integrated studies to link several topics and see logic, and can increase the likelihood of learning.

As the study was only based on factual information and lacked surveys and interviews, it is

therefore recommended that a survey be conducted to select Philippine public elementary and

high schools to compare the two countries academic performances. It is also recommended that

a study be conducted to Japanese elementary and middle school students to analyze further some

aspects of their educational system and find some of them in which the Philippines can learn

from, and vice versa. In addition, a portion of the study regarding issues were fully emphasized

on Japan alone. It is recommended that additional information regarding academic performance,

bullying data, and the like, are to be added to further strengthen comparisons.
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