Juku is the Japanese word often translated as “cram school”. The word first appeared in 1931, when the New York Times wrote an article entitled: “New teaching idea spreads in Japan. Obara, founder of the Juku system explains its aims and progress.” In fact, Juku gained in popularity following Japan’s post-war era since which time they have bceome a permanent feature of Japan’s educational landscape. They are privately run businesses which provide different functions depending on the type you choose: Juku to supplement the learning which takes place at school, Juku which help students to prepare for specific entrance exams (including for senior high school and university), or Juku for struggling students who need additional support to keep up with their peers.
Japan has a reputation for an education system characterized by rote learning and long hours of study. By parents, especially mothers, who push their children to the extremes in order to gain places at prestigious schools or score 100% on their maths, English and science tests. Juku feeds into this stereotype because children typically study here late into the evening after regular school and also on weekends. But this is only a stereotype and the phenomenon of Juku cannot simply be explained as a product of pushy parents and an obsession for study. There are a number of reasons why juku have become so popular, and arguments both for and against using them are compelling.
On the one hand, critics of Juku complain that because of the tear-inducing costs associated with sending children here, those from poorer families are left behind while their richer peers study frantically towards academic success. Japan’s education system has always been one which is egalitarian in its approach and juku do not sit well with this ideal. But the problem of such an egalitarian system is children who lag behind or those who excel are missing out because the system caters only to the middle road. Juku, it’s argued, can cater to children with needs that fall outside the mainstream.
Supporters of juku also might argue that teaching methods are more innovative than the traditional teacher-centred teaching methods employed at state schools. This probably depends on the particular juku that a child attends, but the argument is: because juku are businesses which seek a profit (made by ensuring children pass their exams), teaching here has to be more innovative. And it’s not like the students aren’t enjoying this. Some Japanese children will tell you that they enjoy the different atmosphere of their juku and approach of their teachers (as well as making a new set of friends).
Probably the most common argument against juku is that they deprive children of a childhood – no after school clubs or playing with friends; just study and homework. This might be true, and parents might secretly admit that there child is missing out on…being a child, but the fact is, Japanese parents are under huge pressure to “keep up with the Jones'”. The race for getting their child into the right school and university is most definitely on and no one wants their child to come last, for the child’s sake, as much as the parents’. This race is only intensified by the practice of Japan’s top-class companies which continue to hire its annual round of new graduates from only the leading universities.
Juku are not symptomatic of an obsession with education per se, but perhaps more accurately an obsession with status nd the fear of a child falling behind. Until the Ministry of Education reforms teaching methods and approaches to learning in schools, juku will continue to be a necessary supplement to their child’s education.
