The Education for Sustainable Development in Japan and Malaysia - Term Paper Example

What does the experience of school by Japanese youth suggest about the education for sustainable development? In what ways does it resonate in Malaysia? Introduction The focus of all of the states nowadays is to how to improve the quality of life of its people. That is why their efforts are focused more on deriving the most effective, but least risky solution – Education. As defined by the World Bank Group (2011a), Education is the first step for poverty reduction and to increase human development. It is a primordial element to acquire knowledge. It is stated at the top of every state policy they will implement. Each government makes an effort to improve their system of education, because this will benefit their country, particularly their economy, in the long run. As Milton Freidman (1955) stated, the government interferes with its citizens’ education to promote the welfare of the society. An educated individual is a great addition to boost a country’s economic growth and to sustain its future needs, provided that he will be able to apply what he had learned from school. Sustainable development is a concept which deals with the balance on how present demands are meet without compromising the future needs of the young generations. This protects a country from exhausting all its natural resources to meet its present needs without undermining its economic growth. It is how conflicts should be resolved between the present necessities and the economic development, in order to withstand the upcoming needs (Shaw 2008). Education for sustainable development (ESD) is one of the most pressing topics in the world. as discussed in the preceding paragraphs, education is a tool for achieving sustainable development. It provides individuals training, discipline and knowledge. It gives guidance to the future work force. However, though the goal of education for sustainable development is towards a positive result, the idea still has negative implications along the way. ESD not only focused on the academic side of education but also how values are being taught to sustain development. The values formation curriculum varies from one country to another. It depends on how closely knit the cultural ties of a certain country (McKeown, Hopkins, Rizi, &Chrystalbridge 2002). Since the subject on values formation is not universally the same, the approach on the students varies from one country to another. These problems lead us to the question whether the predicaments in the present education will be able to sustain the impending needs of the future generations. In this paper, a comparative analysis will be presented with regard the education for sustainable development in Japan and Malaysia, and its negative implications to its people. The discussion made on this paper has transcendental importance and must be able to provide us a concrete picture of what is happening in these two countries, and to examine whether such will be advantageous in the long run. Japan and its Economy Japan is one of the most looked up countries, especially in Asia, due to its rapid economic progress. According to Asianinfo.org (2011a), tt is the third largest economy in the world. The currency used by Japan is Yen. It implements a semi-pegged foreign exchange. Japan’s leading industries are manufacturing, construction, communication and distribution. All these sectors are backed by the country’s labor force (Japan-guide.com 2011). In state.gov (2011) it is stated that the work force in Japan is approximately 65.9 million in 2010, which is divided in three main sectors: Services which is composed of 68 percent of the work force, industry with 28% and agriculture with 4 percent. The literacy rate in Japan in 2010 is an outstanding 99 percent. The literacy statistics show that Japan has an excellent educational system. Education in Japan According to Kaori Okano and Motonori Tsuchiya (1999), education plays a major role on the countries development. Education must be able to cope up with the speedy economic growth of Japan. With that, state policies on education are being modernized nowadays. The transition to modern school policies from the conservative one is a manifestation that education can transform a society to its progressive state. Japan’s educational system has stages which should be followed by its citizens in order to achieve the country’s optimum goal – sustainable development and economic growth. However, as changes in the education evolves, problems become very imminent in their society. Competition in the world starts within the school grounds. Due to cut-throat rivalry within the students, the innate pressure to survive in the school jungle is a paramount concern. In order to meet the standard requirement to alleviate one’s standard of living, a student should be able to pass all the prerequisite tests before he can enter into a higher institution of learning, where they will be able to know more and specialized in the field they want to pursue. In extreme cases, this may inflict anger and violence against themselves (Mochizuki 2004). This leads to school related problems such as bullying, non-attendance and violence. Bullying, is an inhuman act committed by one person to another characterized by too much criticism, unwarranted actions, humiliation, verbal and written abuse, and the likes. These cause the people being bullied to have low self-esteem and confidence. The tendency is that student will not be able to perform well in school and might lead to much greater psychological problem. It demoralizes a person’s ego. Bullying is not a new problem. It is a widely condemned act in the world. According Mukarami (2004), bullying is a serious problem in Japan. A study shows that one third of elementary and middle school students are victims of bullying (Nemoto 1999). Due to the country’s economic growth, the contemporary families in Japan have high standard of living as well as purchasing power. With this we can arrive at the conclusion that families in this country are far richer than the other. In this case, parents most likely provide the needs of their children. However, parents are not just willing to give the necessities of their children but also their wants, and because of these luxurious way of living, the children oftentimes are easy go lucky and contended. Since this attitude has been impressed with the youths in Japan, their motivation for perfection and hard work lessen. With this, students disregard the facts of attending a regular school. This rises to another problem – non- attendance (Mochizuki 2004). Non-attendance of students or commonly known as school refusal syndrome is a phenomena in Japan, wherein students, despite their desire to attend their classes, opt not to go due to some psychological and emotional problems (Monbusho 1989). In this theory, students who are sick or financially incapable to enroll are not included. There are two classifications of school refusal syndrome: first, those who have emotionally or psychological problem, and second, those who skips school to hang out with their friends (Ishikida 2005). In the first class, students due to their anxiety and apathetic feeling avoid going to school. The reason behind this is the trauma those children are suffering because of bullying. An addition to that, the problems at home contributes to the refusal of the students to attend their classes (Ishikida 2005). Children who are average performers usually are the subject of this kind of refusal. On the other hand, the second class of student refusal are usually committed by children from wealthy family. Students who are accustomed for being spoon-fed want to release the expectations and pressure from their families. They are those who perform poorly in school. Mostly, these students avoid the intense pressure of the credential system which is very prevalent nowadays. They cannot keep up with the competition in their school. They are tagged as rebellious (Ishikida 2005). Another problem that contributes school refusal is tokokyohi. These phenomenon is characterized by excessive fatigue and exhaustion. The students are burnt out from going to school. Though it may be similar to the second class of refusal, there are other factors which are distinct to tokokyohi. Though at first, it was just a manifestation of laziness, as the years passed it is tagged as a social illness. It creates psychosomatic illness among the students due to disruption to the biological rhythm (Terushisa and Akemi 1994). Efforts have been made to treat student with tokokyoki disease. Several studies have been made to know the root of these phenomena. As the study progresses, they came to a conclusion that tokokyoki is similar with adult burn out. In the course of discussion, they found out that the students are not psychologically ill, it is the school and the environment of the society where that school belongs (Ishikawa et al. 1993). Another factor they see as the reason behind the school refusal is the imposition of corporal punishment (Yoneyama 2000). Malaysia: Its Economy and Education According to index mundi.com (2011), as of 2010, Malaysia has 11.6 million work force. A 2.11 percent increase compared to the 2009 statistics. In unicef.org, the literacy of the said country is 92 percent with a primary net attendance of 96 percent from 2005-2009. But are these statistical data enough to gauge whether education in Malaysia can sustain the needs of the future? The Key to its Problem -- Education Malaysia’s economic goal is to keep up with the competition around the globe, and in order to crack its shell on their way to progress, a shift from production to knowledge based education should be made. As an emerging economy, Malaysia is on the road of establishing better policies for education. The government of Malaysia sees that education is a vehicle to economic growth and ethnic integration. That is why efforts are being made in order to establish a modernized school system. However, the countries new education laws are in conflict with its national goals, to wit: Malay-dominated nation and Malay’s participation in economic growth. (Swee-Hock Saw,K. Kesavapany 2006) – please see Saw. S in the bibiliography As Zajda (2010) noted in his book, the reforms implemented by government keeps on failing, but still same set of plans are being re imposed which entails same predicaments form the past. The most prevalent problem in Malaysia is their people. Its culturally-diversed people hinders the innovation of Malaysia’s education system. The change to a contemporary way of education is difficult because of the clash of cultures and their values. One group’s beliefs differ from the other. Because of non-assimilation of different ethnic races, the modification of Malayan education is a tough task. In order that a change may be implemented, a country such as Malaysia should be able to unite as one and settle their differences. With this, the country will be able achieve their goals. In this regard, Malaysia does not have a uniform system of education (Musa 2003). As evolution towards economic growth persists, the government has another problem to solve, the ordeal on bullying. Due to its multi ethnic society, the diversified teaching on values and the battle for supremacy among cultures are the core of the problem in bullying. As the country progresses, the case of bullying is increasing. Those students coming from the urban poor and working group sectors are the subjects of these problems (Hwang 2003). Another problem that the Malaysian education is currently facing is the bureaucracy in the educations system. A centralized system leads to a less progressive learning. They are under the umbrella of the government. Free thinking is regularized every now and then. In order to achieve reform in their educational system, Malaysia should be able to adopt some of the western ways in their learning sector. However, they must be able to accept the consequences of this shift, whether it may be positive or negative (Zajda 2010). Tagged as one who has emerging economies, Malaysia is a culture bound country. Its values are very much intact depending on the race they belong. Also, family ties are closely knit. Studies show that there is an inverse relation between the families and studying. The more people in a family within the middle income range, there is a lesser chance that the children will not be able to go to school. Another issue in Malayan education is poverty. People under the low income bracket do not have the capacity to go to school. Though the government provides free education for their people, especially those in the rural areas, the curriculum however is limited only to the basic arithmetic, reading and writing. On the other hand, private schools which offer advance studies in the area of math and English. However, parents should be able to shoulder expenses which include tuition fees and other additional expenses such as transportation, food allowance, books, and the likes (Musa 2003). As evidenced by the foregoing explanation, the change Malaysia seeks to implement in their education system will have strong and drastic effect to its people and economy. In order for the country to progress, it should first solve the pressing problems of multi ethnic diversity problem of Malaysia. On the other hand, the pressing problems of bullying and absenteeism due to the transition in order to achieve economic development might cause great damage to their natural resources, especially its labor sector. Japan and Malaysia: Similarities and Differences Japan and Malaysia both sees education as a solution for poverty and the key to achieve economic development. Japan’s education system is an evident manifestation that their policy in such sector is an effective way on how to combat the problems of a country with emerging economy. However, the two countries also delves with issues concerning their education system, one is bullying and the other absenteeism. Japan and Malaysia’s educational problems have direct relationship with their growth. As these countries pursue for progress, the number of school related violence and problems increases. In Japan, the problem starts with its educational policies. These drive students to more competitive and to be perfect in every aspect of their way. Also, students become more complacent that their needs will be provided to them by their parents and by the society. On the other side of Asia, poverty and multi ethnicity are the reason behind the school related violence in Malaysia. The people from different culture battle in every aspect in order to reach supremacy of the group where they belong. It is a war to be identified by the people in the said country. Though in both countries bullying is a top school related violence, the cause in these two countries differ. In Japan, bullying is a problem because of their policy on entrance examination. In this rule, students are force to study hard and focus on their upcoming exam. This rigid test provokes students to concentrate only in their studying because the reward would be great if they pass. However, the problem starts when a student fail in the said examination. They might not be able to redeem their defeat, and dwell on it for a long time. On the other hand, the core of this problem in Malaysia is the non-assimilation of races. The country does not work as one to achieve their end goals. We can say that the reason why students are engrossed in bullying is to hide their insecurity, their inadequacy in whatever aspect in their lives. Bullies want to be at the peak on one time of their lives. Bullying is usually for self-fulfilment and redemption. The other problem that these countries are facing in the present time is absenteeism. In Japan and Malaysia, absenteeism or school refusal syndrome is one of the common problems in these two Asian countries. In both countries, the main reason why students refuse to go to school is because of anxiety, emotional or psychological problem. These problems may be the end result of bullying or other school related violence. The problem in Japan lies on the fact that children, due to their failure, does not want to be humiliated in class. Their educational policy is already at the top breaking their precious children’s dreams. Others just want to eradicate the pressure pressed by their parents and society. Another reason stated by the students in refusing to attend their classes is due to complacency. Students have their mind set that their parents will be able to provide for their needs and give the luxury they want, and that this will continue as long as their parents live. Then again, as we look in the situation in Malaysia, the problem of absenteeism is in line with poverty that country is trying to combat at the present. Parents are not able to send their children to school because they do not have the capacity to pay for other expenses entails with education. Also, the problem in family planning adds to the school refusal syndrome. When parents have too many children which they are unable to support, the consequence will be the latter will not be able to go to school. Overall, the education policies implemented by both countries are remarkable, however this is not enough to sustain the needs of the future. The policies are destructive in the sense that people have innate pressure among themselves which might bear negative consequence if such person fails. Instead of producing manpower to help boost the economy, it will only add to the burden of the country. Conclusion Sustainable development is a concept to balance both economic growth and the present necessities provided that the future generation’s needs will not be compromised. With the situation in our world right now, the countries are pushing so much to have prosperous economy. However, the countries failed to implement ways on how economic development can be achieved without too much negative effect on its people. The comparison provided in this paper on Japan and Malaysia’s way of implementing modern educational system sends to us that both countries deal with more or less similar problems but with different reasons. In Japan we can say that these problems evolve because of too much economic growth, people tend to be too much contented on their current status of living. On the other side, the bottle neck competition that the policies on entrance examination and curriculum mold students to be too much competitive, which, in case of failure, they will not be able to accept their defeat. Word Count: 3019 words Bibliography Asianinfo.org (2011a). Japan’s economy, [Online] Available at: http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/pro-economy.htm Asianinfo.org (2011b). Malaysia’s economy, [Online] Available at: http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/malaysia/pro-economy.htm Breiting, S. , Mayer, M., and Mogensen, F. (2005). “Quality Criteria for ESD-Schools” Guidelines to enhance the quality of Education for Sustainable Development, Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, [Online] Available from: http://educationforsustainabledevelopment.com/publications/quality-creteria-esd-schools.pdf.pdf Cummings, W. and Altbach, P. (1997). The challenge of Eastern Asian education: implications for America SUNY series, frontiers in education, SUNY Press. Economywatch.com (2011). Malaysia economy. Available at: http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/malaysia/ Friedman, M., 1955, The Role of Government in Education, In R. Solo, ed., Economics and the the Public Interest, New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press. GDRC.org (2011). Sustainable development. Available at: http://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/definitions.html Hwang, I., 2003, Personalized politics: the Malaysian state under Mahathi, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Ishikawa, N. and et al, 1993, Kodomotachi ga kataru toˆkoˆkyohi: 402 nin nomesseij i [Toˆkoˆkyohi as Discussed by Chi ldren: 402 accounts], Yokohama, Seori shoboˆ Ishikida, M. (2005). Japanese education in the 21st century, iUniverse Inc, New York. Japanguide.com (2011). [Online] Available at: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e644.html Malakolunthu, S., (2010). Implementation of education reforms: The issue of structural and cultural discordance, globalisation, ideology and education policy reforms volume 11 of globalisation, comparative education and policy research, Springer, Verlag. McKeown, R., Hopkins, C.A., Rizzi, R., & Chrystalbridge, M. (2002). Education for sustainable development toolkit. Version 2. Waste Management Research and Education Institution. Mochizuki, K.. (2004). Japanese junior high school, the present climate in japan, japanese schooling: patterns of socialization, equality, and political control, Penn State Press. Monbusho, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 1989, Education in Japan 1989: A graphical presentation. Tokyo, Japan Mundi.com (2011). Malaysia labor force. Available at: http://www.indexmundi.com/malaysia/labor_force.html Murakami, Y. (2004). Bullies in the classroom, the present climate in japan, japanese schooling: patterns of socialization, equality, and political control, Penn State Press. Musa, B. (2003). An education system worthy of Malaysia, iUniverse Inc. Nemoto, Y. (1999). The Japanese education system, Universal Publishers. Okano, K. & Tsuchiya, M. (1999). Education in contemporary Japan : Inequality and diversity. Cambridge University Press, New York. Prahalad, C., 2009, Professor C.K. Prahalad on Sustainable Development and the Bottom Line, [Online] Available at: http://educationforsustainabledevelopment.com/blog/ Saw, S. and Kesavapany, K.. ( 2006). Malaysia: Recent trends and challenges, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Shaw, D. (2008). Education and sustainable development, OECD Forum [Online] Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/19/38/40891515.pdf Sheilds, Jr J, (2004). Japanese schooling: Patterns of socialization, equality, and political control, Penn State Press. Smith, P. (1999). The nature of school bullying: a cross-national perspective, Routledge. State.gov (2010). Background note: Japan [Online] Available at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm Tan, L. (1982). The state and economic distribution in Peninsular Malaysia: Toward an alternative theoretical approach. Issue 31 of Research notes and discussions paper, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Terushisa, M. & Akemi, T. (1994). Gakkoˆ karoˆshi [School ‘karoˆshi’ (death by overwork)], Tokyo, Shindan. The World Bank Group. (2011a). What is sustainable development. Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/sd.html The World Bank Group. (2011b). Economic module. Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/economic/index.html Unicef.org (2011). Malaysia statistics. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/malaysia_statistics.html Yoneyama, S. (2000). ‘Student discourse on Tokokyohi’ (school phobia/refusal) in Japan: burnout or empowerment?’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, vol 21, no.1, pp. 77-94. Zajda, J. (2010). Globalisation, ideology and education policy reforms. Springer, New York. Read More