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MONTHLY NEWS February 1998 Japanese Kids Have Longest School Year |
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Japanese schoolchildren have much fewer holidays than kids in France and the United States, but their school day is much shorter, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Education.
The report is based on a finding by the ministry's Curriculum Council. The council compared total class hours in a fourth-grade curriculum at schools in five countries: France, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The council carried out the study to consider how a five-day school week should be implemented in Japan. The country will switch to a five-day school week in 2003. |
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A typical school day for Japanese fourth graders lasts between 3 hours 45 minutes and 4-and-a-half hours. French kids put in 6 hours at day, while Americans spend 5-and-a-half hours at school. The school day was 4 hours 40 minutes in the United Kingdom and 3 hours 45 minutes in Germany.
Japan, however, had the most school days per year--220 days--compared with 180 days for France and the United States. The German school year was 185 days, while U.K. school kids attended classes for 190 days. Japanese children had only 12 weeks of holidays a year, almost a month less than French and American students. 
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