Japan is cutting school class size and hiring more teachers

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100713p2a00m0na015000c.html

July 26, 2010

Education council to recommend gov't reduce class sizes at public schools

The Central Education Council will recommend to the government that class sizes at public elementary and junior high schools be reduced and teaching staffs expanded in the first review of standard class sizes in 30 years.

The council's committee for elementary and secondary education compiled the recommendations for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on July 12.

Although the proposal does not include a standard class size, the ministry plans to consider reducing the current class size of 40 to 35, and to 30 pupils in the lower grades of elementary school. Following the soon-to-be submitted proposal, the ministry will develop a concrete plan in August and gradually implement it from next fiscal year.

As the proposal requires a sufficient budget for recruiting more teachers and staff as well as a change in a related law, the ministry is expected to consult with the Ministry of Finance and submit a draft revision to the ordinary Diet session in fiscal 2011 at the earliest. snip

In its manifesto for the July 11 House of Councillors election, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan appealed for support for a reduction in the number of students in each class as part of its education reform efforts, promoting improvement in the quality and quantity of teachers.

i dont know how long ago. my kids were always a part of it.

go up from 20 to 30 this fall. Many teachers were laid off.

and the special ed kids are "included" which means they are in the classrooms, too. Not only will we have 40 kids x 5 sections, we will have about 15% sped kids. More paperwork, extra time tutoring and modifications, more parent contact, more freaking meetings.

not heard this. amazingly bad... sorry for yawl.

the Libertarian's paradise.

The way you wrote "included" with scare quotes is truly scary. As a parent of an autistic child, I know that without a fully committed teacher (that is, not an overloaded one), the special ed kids are doomed. Nobody's going to be happy at IEP time. (Do you have IEPs in Arizona?)

IEP's are federal.

I had a student with Asperger's this past year and it was hell for both of us. The rest of the students just rolled their eyes. His parents were very supportive and pretty much exhausted. The kid was freaking brilliant but socially blind.

Thank you for understanding the overloaded nature of our jobs. It is the kids who will suffer.

Which begs the obvious question...if THEY can do that with their current economic situation, why the hell can't we even afford to give our teachers a raise and better bennies?

Of course, since WWII ended, Japan kicked that massive, vampiric and parasitic, military industrial complex that ruled their empire for centuries, to the curb. We haven't. I guess I just answered my own question.

They had to and then WE took over that function. It was part of the treaty that they signed to end WWII.

Tell you what, if you can figure out a way to end ALL aggression in the world then maybe the US could cut its Military as well. It is naive to think that a smaller military will keep us safe. All that shows is weakness and others WILL take advantage of it. You dont have to have a shitload of warships or aircraft to attack a country, 9/11 proved just that.

Are you really stupid enough to think there are US military bases and troops in every single industrialized country in the world because of fear that bad guys may invade us?

You probably think that Saddam Hussein orchestrated 9-11, that Iran needs to be invaded and liberated from their oil, and that we are in the process of building more permanent military bases by the largest oil fields in the Middle East because we are fighting terror.

Its just amazing to me that a parody like that post you just barfed up actually still exists in the wild.

I spent a year over there and all they have is a small self defense force. Not enough to do a whole hell of a lot, we are there to help protect their country. Doesnt matter if you like it or not, or approve or not that is the way it is.

You need to back the hell up tho and get off of your self righteous soapbox tho in regards to your second paragraph.

Just because some dont swallow your screed does not make them a war monger as you try to state.

Relatively more middle-aged teachers to teach relatively fewer young students. The opposite of our situation.

in texas is relatively small and have not heard of any increase in size.

We're just lucky, I guess. Class sizes are irrelevant, you need inexperienced teachers in overcrowded classrooms. That's the ticket. :sarcasm:

less well educated than China or India's.

Thanks Obama and Bill Gates..I guess it is the only way to grow our military today...........

Dumb them down and get them to eagerly put on the uniform..

Never thought in my lifetime I would see what I see today going on ..under democrats! And with Any Democrats agreeing to this debacle with applause.