世論 What Japan Thinks

Between the first and fifth of March this year, yet another survey that MyVoice conducted was into the matter of elementary and middle-school education, covering children between the ages of six and fifteen.

Demographics

15,765 members of their online community successfully completed the survey. 54% were female, 3% in their teens, 19% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 25% in their forties, and 14% in their fifites.

Looking back on my school days, I cannot really say there was much wrong with the, alhough I did grow up in a small town where there were not many social problems. In the present day, however, I could rattle off a million and one things that may be wrong in both my home country and Japan. However, bemoaning the behaviour of the younger generation has been a universal trait since the days of Socrates.

I am surprised that Q4 and Q5 did not have more options about perceived failures of parents to teach their children how to behave, which I feel (as a non-parent) is an important issue in the degradation of the education system. Disturbances in class is just a symptom, not the root cause.

How do English language teachers or those with children in Japanese schools find Japanese schools? How would you rate the problems?

Research results

Q1: Do you think the level of academic achievement in elementary and middle schools has dropped? (Sample size=15,765)

Strongly think so	33.3%
Think so a little	40.2%
Can’t say either way	22.0%
Don’t really think so	3.8%
Don’t think so at all	0.7%

Q2: Do you think you got a solid education when you were in elementary and middle school? (Sample size=15,765)

Strongly think so	13.9%
Think so a little	44.3%
Can’t say either way	27.6%
Don’t really think so	11.4%
Don’t think so at all	2.8%

Q3: When you were in elementary and middle school, which of the following do you think was a problem? (Sample size=15,765, multiple answer)

Bullying	38.6%
Class sizes were too large	31.1%
Poor teacher quality	18.7%
Delinquency, in-school violence	18.7%
Corporal punishment	18.4%
Truancy	17.6%
Under-age smoking and drinking	16.1%
Disturbances in class	11.7%
No repect for teachers	7.6%
Lot of latecoming, leaving early	5.6%
Poor safety, security	5.5%
School leadership	5.5%
Low academic performance	5.4%
Education ministry, education board policies	4.4%
Curriculum issues, overall education	2.6%
Too expensive	1.7%
Teacher shortage	1.6%
Use of mobile phones in school	1.5%
Parents not paying for school meals	0.9%
School selection policies	0.7%
Class sizes were too small	0.6%
Other	2.9%
No particular problem	23.3%
No answer	0.2%

Q4: In today’s elementary and middle schools, which of the following do you think is a problem? (Sample size=15,765, multiple answer)

Bullying	72.7%
Low academic performance	58.2%
Parents not paying for school meals	57.9%
Poor teacher quality	50.8%
Curriculum issues, overall education	49.4%
Disturbances in class	49.4%
No repect for teachers	49.9%
Truancy	44.0%
Education ministry, education board policies	40.2%
Use of mobile phones in school	39.3%
School leadership	27.4%
Under-age smoking and drinking	25.9%
Delinquency, in-school violence	25.0%
Lot of latecoming, leaving early	16.4%
Poor safety, security	12.7%
Too expensive	11.0%
Teacher shortage	10.5%
Class sizes are too large	7.8%
School selection policies	6.9%
Corporal punishment	3.9%
Class sizes are too small	3.5%
Other	6.1%
No particular problem	1.9%
No answer	0.1%

Q5: In today’s elementary and middle schools, what do you think is the biggest problem? (Sample size=15,765)

Bullying	29.9%
Poor teacher quality	12.4%
Education ministry, education board policies	8.7%
Low academic performance	8.6%
Curriculum issues, overall education	8.4%
No repect for teachers	8.2%
Parents not paying for school meals	7.4%
Disturbances in class	4.9%
School leadership	1.5%
Truancy	1.2%
Use of mobile phones in school	0.8%
Class sizes are too large	0.7%
Delinquency, in-school violence	0.6%
Too expensive	0.5%
Teacher shortage	0.5%
Under-age smoking and drinking	0.3%
Lot of latecoming, leaving early	0.2%
Poor safety, security	0.2%
School selection policies	0.2%
Corporal punishment	0.1%
Class sizes are too small	0.1%
Other	2.5%
No particular problem	2.0%
No answer	0.3%