Ground Report

 Inevitable choice

 Studying is dull for many Japanese students aged between 6 and 18. But, even so, plenty of them study in juku, cram schools. Why do they attend? A boy answered ‘inevitable.’

  Indeed, juku is unavoidable for many students to go to. Struggling with subjects, like math or English, in their schools makes parents decide to let their children attend cram schools. As well as to receive supplementary lessons, another reason is to prepare for the competition of college entrance examinations ahead of them.

 Since education background is crucial to determine future careers of young Japanese people, juku is important. It teaches students skills of studying and gives advice on educational careers to parents, which public schools are said to be lacking. In return, it receives tuition fees and monthly fees. Its business fundamentally relies on numbers of students, ie customers, it has.

 Had schools been adequate, juku would not have been needed so much. Above all, demands for it tend to rise when levels of teaching of schools, except private ones with Sparta curriculum, become inadequate or insufficient. When the Japanese government relaxed the national education policy in 2002, many parents reacted to it by taking their children to juku with concerns that standards of schools would fall to a degree that children could not pass the exams. In April, the government announced to reverse the education scheme. Consequently, there will be students who lag behind and call for cram schools. Child allowances may incline parents to consider it.

That will benefit the juku market. It grew in the past few decades because of the relaxed education programme and increased household expenditure in education. Also, to begin running juku is relatively easy for managers because of low quantities in stock, enabling them to pay cheap costs when starting the business. All this led to the industry reaching over ￥1 trillion ($ 10 billion) in 1996, reckons Yano Research Institute.[１] This may profit the entire education market too, which accounted for over ￥25 trillion in 2002, according to Nomura Research Institute[２].

But because of fewer children the juku market is shrinking steadily since 2002, urging it to change. Several things reflect this trend. First, a type of tutorial class has become popular. Because classes are arranged based on levels of each students, it attracts many parents. Second, major companies have been doing mergers and acquisitions to reach wider markets, showing how fierce the competition is. What’s more, they are seeking to grow in Asia such as Taiwan and China. ‘The market is saturated and, consequently, shake-out will be inevitable’ says a manager of School IE, a franchise juku firm.

Another daunting issue is also expecting juku to change: the education gulf between rich and poor. Children whose parents have high levels of earnings tend to achieve good results. Meanwhile, those whose families are in difficult economic situations are liable to drop schools. The government’s small spending in education contributes to it. Furthermore, unless students attend juku with parents paying huge sum of money, they are unlikely to attain top universities. A man who taught in juku for 25 years said ‘money determines children’s careers.’

To tackle the problem, juku and schools need to cooperate more closely. But, even that will be difficult. ‘Aims of juku and schools, especially public ones, are basically different from each other: we are business’ says the manager. â– 

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