Q-1: How do high schools grade their students in their report cards?
A: According
to the high school
guidance record, all subjects/courses are graded by the five-level
system (5,
4, 3, 2, 1). The
teachers grade their
students on an absolute scale, not on a curve by considering all
factors, such as
their exams, quizzes, homework, study attitudes and so on.
Q-2:
What are temple schools,
which were taught by priests a long time ago?
A:
During the Edo period
(1603-1867), local feudal lords established fief schools for samurai,
“Japanese
warriors” while ordinary farmers, craftsmen, and merchants
sent their children to
the terakoya, “temple schools” for basic knowledge,
writing, reading, and
counting.
Q-3: What is the percentage of the student population or the percentage of the total 17-year-olds that graduate from high school in Japan?
A: In April 2003, 97 percent of 15-year-old middle school graduates entered high school, including evening high schools, and are expected to graduate with only a 2.6 percent dropout rate (in the 2001-2 school year).
Q-4: What alternatives does an adult who did not complete high school have? Is there an exam, such as GED (General Educational Development) in the United States?
A: There is the University Entrance Qualification Examination (called Daigaku Nyūgaku Shikaku Kentei, and since 2005, Kōtō Gakkō Sotsugyō Teido Nintei Shiken). If they pass the exam, they are qualified to take an exam for college.
