Despite an improved economy, Japan is suffering a crisis of confidence these days about its ability to compete with its emerging Asian rivals, China and India. One result has been a growing craze for Indian education in this fad-obsessed nation.

The Indian boomlet reflects the insecurity many Japanese feel about schools in their country, facilities that once turned out students who consistently ranked at the top of international tests. But now many are looking for lessons from India, a country seen by many in Japan as the world's ascendant education superpower.

Bookstores are filled with titles like "Extreme Indian Arithmetic Drills" and "The Unknown Secrets of the Indians." Newspapers carry reports of Indian children memorizing multiplication tables far beyond nine times nine, the standard for young elementary students in Japan. And the few Indian international schools in Japan are reporting a surge in applications from Japanese families.

At the Little Angels English Academy & International Kindergarten, the textbooks are from India, most of the teachers are South Asian, and classroom posters depict animals out of Indian tales, including dancing elephants in plumed turbans. The kindergarten students even color maps of India in the green and saffron of its flag.

Little Angels is in Mikata, a Tokyo suburb. Only 1 of its 45 students is Indian. Most are Japanese.

The thought of viewing another Asian country as a model in education, or almost anything else, would have been unheard of a few years ago, education experts and historians say.

Much of Japan has long looked down on the rest of Asia, priding itself on being the most advanced country in the region. Indeed, Japan has dominated the continent for more than a century, first as an imperial power and more recently as the first Asian economy to achieve Western levels of development.

But in recent years, Japan has grown increasingly insecure, gripped by fear that it was being overshadowed by India and China, which were rapidly gaining in economic weight and sophistication. The government in Tokyo has tried to preserve the Japanese technological lead and strengthen its military. But the Japanese have been forced to shed a traditional indifference to their neighbors in the region.

Suddenly, Japan is, grudgingly, starting to show a new sense of respect.

"Until now, Japanese saw China and India as backward and poor," said Yoshinori Murai, a professor of Asian cultures at Sophia University in Tokyo. "As Japan loses confidence in itself, its attitudes toward Asia are changing. It has started seeing India and China as nations with something to offer."

In education, Japanese respect has grown in seemingly direct proportion to how far its performance has slipped below its Asian rivals on international tests. Last month, a cry of alarm greeted the announcement by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that in an international survey of math skills, Japan had fallen from first place in 2000 to 10th place, behind Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

From second in science in 2000, Japan dropped to sixth place.

While China has stirred more concern as a political and economic challenger, India has emerged as the country to beat in a more benign rivalry over education. In part, this reflects the image in Japan of China as a cheap manufacturer and technological imitator. But Indian success in software development, Internet businesses and knowledge-intensive industries where Japan has failed to make inroads has sparked more than a tinge of envy.

Source:http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/02/business/yen.php
http://indiablogs.searchindia.com/2008/01/02/japan-goes-gaga-over-indian-education/

Replying to [cyber chap]:

Where is Mr.Thomas for his insider report?

Replying to [cyber chap]:Thomas is currently busy in selling tea.

Replying to [Anshu]

If he puts his son to Indian school !!!!, he can sell his tea without bothering on on his son's future!!!

Replying to [cyber chap]:

I am HERE!!! But not there.... LOL

Yes, Cyber Chap, you are right. Japan are stunned over Indian education. However, I do not go "Gaga", LOL.... I saw a Japanese documentary about Indian kids learning to do math Time Table from 1 to 50 or more... I remember when I was just a kid, I learn from 1 to 12 only. Scary beyond my imagination. Is that why India produces so many mathematican, engineers, programmers etc etc...

This is another good example of why China and India will take over US and Japan as the economic leaders in the future.

Japanese are a bunch of Samurai type of hardworking people, but not creative nor educationally smart. Moreover, they seldom bend the rules, nor can they move easily away from the main stream. Out of the box thinking is out of the questions, and maybe that is why their stagnant economy never improves.... *sigh*

Given the opportunity, I will move to China... LOL...

Replying to [cyber chap]:

LOL... I prefer to school my son in a Chinese-Japanese school, my son is afterall a Chinese-Japanese kid .....

I am still really impressed with India education...

How can I purchase India math games? I heard there are a lot of these games avaliable to increase kids' math skill while they are young.

Quoting from [Thomas1976]:


LOL... I prefer to school my son in a Chinese-Japanese school, my son is afterall a Chinese-Japanese kid .....


I am still really impressed with India education...


How can I purchase India math games? I heard there are a lot of these games avaliable to increase kids' math skill while they are young.

Just Google...''Abacus''

Replying to [Thomas1976]:

You need math games that are relevant to your son's age. Therefore, in which school grade ( or standard, as it is called in India) does your son study?

And, by the way, I don't think students study math multiplication tables upto 50. My son is in 5th and he knows upto 30 as yet. May be, he will have to study beyond 30 in the higher grades. But, as yet, he is supposed to know upto 30 only.

Regards,

Replying to [Thomas1976]

Thanks for your deep analysis. The other side pasture is greener always. Indians, as Adseaco told, are trying with Abacus and import many related things from Thailand and Malaysia.

The math is also very tough here. My four year old son is being taught to count upto 100 in his kindergarten class and to write one sentence level in English. Don't think that this is official and compulsory. Government recognized courses start at the age of 5 and more than 60% (rural/have-not urban) students get the same education. There too, many brilliant students come up in life but they find difficulty to cope up with the elite society, especially interviews. It means, the burden on young kids shall be avoided. The Montessori school system is also gaining momentum in India for the kids. Only time will tell which one is best.

Replying to [rchas]:

Well, I am not sure, acutally. All my information came from documentary and news on Japanese TV. If your kids studied till 30, then it must be 30. But it is already a very difficult thing to do for such a young age.

My son is in the 2nd grade, and we (my wife and I) are already teaching him 3rd and 4th grade math. I am also teaching him English and a little chemistry .. hahaha....

But I do not want to take away his childhood, so there must be balance between education and play. Whenever he ask why, I will explain even if it were difficult for him to comprehend.

By the way, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"...

Replying to [Thomas1976]:

Indian students take a few optional exams, apart from their school exams. One such exam being conducted in my state is IPM; please check their website at http://www.ipmindia.in/index.htm

IPM holds exams for students from Grades 3 to 9. They are supposed to be good exams for math but not the toughest. You may want to contact them and ask them if they will mail you their past exam papers.

Regards,