Flexibility in education highlighted in Yoru Supe case
(From The Japan Times Feb. 5 issue)

公立中学校で私塾開設

A night "cram school" for top achievers run by a private company has begun at the publicly run Wada Junior High School in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. Some public schools have been pushing tie-ups with private cram schools offering supplementary instruction. The programs are open to a wide range of students. But at Wada Junior High School, only about 20 of the 127 second-year students who have passed placement tests attend the cram courses.

Depending on the number of cram courses students take, the monthly tuition at Wada Junior High's one-year course, called Yoru Supe (Night Special), is either ¥18,000 or ¥24,000. The school principal, who came from the private sector, explains that public schools need to stimulate gifted students even through collaboration with private companies. The tuition is about half the tuition charged by many cram schools. For households on welfare, the tuition is halved further.

The new night courses may bring a feeling of division between students whose academic achievements are high enough to attend the courses and those who are not, as well as between parents who can afford the courses and those who cannot.

What is going on at Wada Junior High School sheds light on problems public schools are facing. They include how to get students interested in studying and how to increase their scholastic ability. Education authorities should pay attention to the fact that teachers are too busy to spend enough time with students. The fiscal 2008 budget will increase the number of full-time public middle and grammar school teachers by 1,195, and fund the hiring of 7,000 part-time teachers. This is good news, but education authorities also should consider allowing teachers to demonstrate more originality and ingenuity in teaching students.

東京・杉並区の公立和田中学校は、民間企業と合同で、学校の教室を使って、成績優秀者のための夜間の私塾「夜スペ」を開設した。和田中の「夜スペ」は2年生127人のうち、入塾試験に合格した20人のみを対象とするものだ。

授業料は、通常の学習塾の半額である。生活保護世帯については減免される。この制度は、成績優秀者とそうでない生徒、授業料を払える親とそうでない親との間に格差感を生む恐れがある。

08年予算の下で、公立小中学校の教師は1,195人増員、非常勤講師7,000人を採用の予定であるが、教育関係当局は、教師に対しさらに独自性を発揮させる方策を考えるべきである。