Japan eyes more flexible school curriculum to meet diverse needs

Just scrap the whole curriculum and write a new one from scratch. Give schoolchildren a curriculum that will give them the knowledge and skills they need in life. They don't need quadratic equations and they don't need hours long lectures about English in Japanese.

Yeah,coz children aren’t going to be working in factories anymore but will become ‘content creators’

Making time in the school curriculum for book-reading (literature and gripping non-fiction like history, science and, yes, philosophy) should be prioritized to boost concentration levels and help stem the rising tide of mass dumbing-down that is driving voting populations world-wide in the direction of dystopian idiocracies under authoritarian governments.

digital literacy,

And civics literacy. And critical thinking skills.

Kids are not going to be able to beat AI on its own terms. They're going to need to take charge of where human society is headed.

Japan eyes more flexible school curriculum to meet diverse needs

How many oxymorons can you find in this statement?

The new curriculum guidelines are expected to be implemented in the 2030 academic year in elementary schools, 2031 in junior high schools and in 2032 or later in senior high schools.

Why so soon? Give us at least a decade to digest the information, then maybe we can start discussing it at a future time.

allowing them to better accommodate children with diverse personalities and characteristics.

Maybe they can start by arranging classes by skill levels, not by HR.

Or have them shuffle groups between periods so they can meet more classmates and have less bullying?

And definitely stop giving them 5 math and 3 science classes in the same semester.

They need to modify the system to be vigorous enough, so that kids don’t spend hours in cram schools. And add to it skill sets for to (1) leverage and drive science/technology and innovation without becoming just useless content creators; (2) improved communication skills; (3) understanding about how money works…..etc with the aim to create new collaborative leaders who can work as a team rather than a bunch of sheep.

Oh yeah that "diversity" word again. WOKE is catching up here.

Get back to "reading and writing and 'rithmatic."

@BertieWooster - "They don't need quadratic equations"

Children learn a bit of everything - e.g., literature, writing, art, history, math, physics, sports, woodwork, cooking - so that they can find out what their aptitudes and interests are. Some kids love math. The world does need math and a lot of other skills too.

Should be looking at I.B. curriculum for solid ideas on how to teach kids to think for themselves!

5 minutes isnt going to mean squat. The teachers will just go over and brush off any complaints.

Children learn a bit of everything - e.g., literature, writing, art, history, math, physics, sports, woodwork, cooking - so that they can find out what their aptitudes and interests are. Some kids love math. The world does need math and a lot of other skills too.

Fair point. On the other hand, at some point it's going to be clear that some kids just don't have it in them to take jobs that heavily rely on math (or another clearly weak area), but might have a compensating talent. If so, it'd be nice if he can have the flexibility to dump math and focus on what might make him a living.