OECD Economic Surveys: Japan 2011
OECD's 2011 review of the Japanese economy. This edition includes chapters covering the economic recovery, achieving fiscal stability, Japan's growth strategy to create demand and jobs, education reform in Japan, and labour market reforms to improve growth and equity.
Also available in: French
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 4.90MBPDF
Education reform in Japan
While Japan has achieved outstanding scores on the PISA exams, further improving educational outcomes is important to sustain growth in the face of rapid population ageing. The government should step up investment in early childhood education and care and integrate childcare and kindergarten to improve its quality, while allowing some diversity in the type of institutions. Upgrading tertiary education, in part through stronger competition and internationalisation, is also important to increase human capital and boost the role of universities in innovation. Given the serious fiscal situation, reforms to further raise the efficiency of educational spending per student, which is above the OECD average for public and private outlays combined, are needed. The large share of private education spending, which accounts for onethird of the total, places heavy burdens on families, thereby discouraging fertility, and creates inequality in educational opportunities and outcomes. Reducing dependence on private after-school educational institutions known as juku would help reduce the burden and enhance fairness.
Also available in: French
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 615.81KBPDF