Japan Press Weekly

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2007 September 19 - 25 [EDUCATION]

Japan’s public expenditure on education ranks second to last: OECD report

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on September 18 published a report on the educational system in its member countries, entitled “Education at a Glance 2007,” which revealed that the Japanese government has little regard for education.

Of Japan’s total public expenditure in 2004, education accounted for only 9.8 percent compared to 13.4 percent in OECD countries on average.

Japan’s public expenditure on educational institutions accounts for 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), second to last among OECD countries. The OECD average was 5.0 percent.

The report also shows that Japan’s households are spending more for education more than most OECD countries. Japan’s private expenditure on educational institutions accounted for 25.8 percent, next to the United States and Australia. As for tertiary education, private expenditure went up to 58.8 percent in Japan. In sharp contrast, public sources accounted for 97.9 percent in Finland.

Japan’s class size in primary and junior high schools is extraordinarily large. In primary schools the class size is 28.4 (OECD average, 21.5), and in junior high school 33.5 (24.1).