Comparisons and contrasts between the educational systems of Japan and Britain - Essay Example

Dearden (1998) points out that there is significant annual return for an individual who has earned extra years in education: 9.3% for women and 5.5% for men. Japan and the United Kingdom (UK) are two strong economies that would benefit from educating their respective people. Japan, a strong industrial economy in Asia, capitalizes much on the Japanese workforce to propel its economy further and stay competitive amongst nations. The UK, on the other hand, capitalizes as well on its workforce to maintain its strong competitive stance in the world market.

This paper attempts to compare and contrast the educational systems of these two nations basing only on the basic general education of both countries. It is limited to the basic comparison and contrast and does not go further into the technical and other aspects of education. In the UK education system, education is compulsory for eleven years. Starting from age five, children attend Primary School in state-run schools until the age eleven. After which, from age eleven to sixteen, they go to Comprehensive School, still in state-run schools.

There are also the so-called Grammar Schools, which are secondary schools for students aged eleven to eighteen. Entry to these Grammar Schools is rather stringent, controlled as they are by academically selective process consisting largely by written examinations. This is mainly to prepare the students for further education at any college or university after finishing the Grammar School. privately-run schools, which ironically, are called officially in the UK as Public Schools. These Public Schools are regarded as elite-oriented because they charge fees, they are usually prestigious and historic, do not arbitrarily restrict admissions, and are mostly funded by groups and institutions other than the state, commonly as private charitable trusts.

Also, most of these schools are boarding schools. They admit students aged thirteen to eighteen. On the contrary, Japan