Reply #37: I'm not ignoring what you wrote, but you're ignoring what I wrote. [View All]

I'm not just talking about juku. I'm talking about the entire class-divided system of schools that starts at *preschool*. If you get your kid into the *right* preschool, it greatly increases your chances of getting him into its affiliated kindergarten, elementary -- all the way up to uni, for example. Do you *really* think the "merit of the student" is distinguishable in *pre-school*?

There are entrance exams for private schools at every level, not just at uni level. There are entrance exams for both public & private schools upper level HS, & the risk is to get tracked into voc options, some of which are dumping grounds. E.g. at one I met a gang of huffers who went to class high.

I'm not just talking about "university admittance." It matters *very* much *which* university you get into; not just any university will get you a decent job. And tuition isn't free, as you seem to be implying.

The prep, private schools, private tutors, juku *don't* just make a difference just "at the margins". I worked in an Osaka city HS (hired directly by the Osaka City public schools, not a "JET" hire). The classrooms had 50 students. The students slept, read, ate lunch while the teachers (for the most part) droned on without noticing. The students told me they didn't learn anything much in HS: they did their heavy study in juku & prep school. The only thing I admired about the HS I worked in was their clubs.

I'll put it to you this way: what percent of students in Todai come from low-income backgrounds v. the percent at Harvard?

In Japan, kids' futures are basically settled by 10th grade, & there are few second chances.