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Facing language barriers, non-Japanese children have fewer opportunities to go to cram schools to enter senior high schools. Teaching in their mother tongues in easy-to-understand ways is necessary, and the project is nice.

7 Comments

Izumi Yamada, 68, a former Hosei University professor who specializes in Japanese language teaching and multicultural education, welcoming a cram school in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward that offers special classes for non-Japanese children to pass high school and university entrance examinations. Teachers can speak Burmese, Thai, Korean and other languages offer two-hour, one-to-one lessons once a week.

© Asahi Shimbun

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Cram schools are a huge rip-off that exploit the flaws of a fundamentally broken education system. If students need so much extra tuition to pass entrance exams then schools are just not functioning properly.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

I walk past a cram school during my commute. It's a really, really depressing place. When I was these kids' ages, I would be studying in the comfort of my family home after school, outside playing sports, hanging out outdoors with my friends or getting down with a girlfriend in the park. And yes, I ended up getting a great school education.

Through the big windows, I see these kids locked up inside an institution after having spent the other part of the day locked up inside another institution bent over books memorizing exam content under the glare of florescent light. Ugh.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Through the big windows, I see these kids locked up inside an institution after having spent the other part of the day locked up inside another institution bent over books memorizing exam content under the glare of florescent light. Ugh.

As I daresay the cram school operators are well in with all the right politicians and education ministry bureaucrats I expect things will continue that way. The politicians are not going to implement any reforms that would cut into their friends' profits.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Cram schools are a huge part of what is wrong with Japan's education system.

The sooner they are gone, the better.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Cram schools are disgusting. Not only do they demonstrate that schools are doing a poor job of educating, they cause in equality - poorer children are left behind in the education race to get into the 'right' school or university. Education is supposed to be about personal enlightenment and achievement, it's not a competition, nor is it solely to ensure individuals get the 'right' job.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Most Japanese teachers are at school during holidays.

Instead of cram schools pupils should utilise their own teachers.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

agree with all above posters. If the Japanese education system was any good, there would be no need for cram schools in the first place.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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