How Does its Education Affect the Roles of Japanese Internationally?
South Korean Education
The South Korean Education system is fairly similar to that of the Japanese system. What is different is the English Education system. English-language instruction begins third grade, allowing children to study in a relaxed atmosphere through conversations with the teacher. Grammatical rules and difficult vocabulary only comes in at junior high and high school. Part of the aim of high school education in South Korea is "to foster each student's personality and ability needed to preserve and strengthen the backbone of the nation" [Richard Diem, Tedd Levy, and Ronald VanSickle, 2014]. This indicates that Korea focuses on the individuality of students more than Japan does. Though this does not mean they focus less on the education itself. Many of the parents sacrifice a large amount of time and money to make sure their children receive the best education possible. It can be said that there is no other country with higher enthusiasm for education than South Korea.
The chart to the left shows results for the PISA test taken in 2009. the data presented is the Mean Scores by Country for Reading, Mathematics, and Science.
Thai Education
Education in Thai requires twelve years of free primary and secondary education. The system itself isn't so different from other countries. At the end of each year, students are required to take an year end test. If they do not pass this test, they are not allowed to move on to the next grade level. The student may have to stay back one grade, or go to an summer school and retake the test before the new year begins. At times, the teacher may assist the student throughout the test. Thailand, like Japan, has a ministry of education. The government decides the basic properties taught in schools, but do not interfere with the schools' curriculum as much as they do in Japan.