Mode of education

In Japan there are both public and private schools which are licensed as educational facilities by the Ministry of Education.

Education is divided into six year of elementary schooling (shougakkou), three years of secondary school (chuugakkou) and three years of college (koutougakkou). The school calendar follows the same April- March calendar. A child who will be seven years old between 1st April of one year and 31 March of the next is expected to enrol in first grade of elementary school.

Like every other normal education system, there is a pecking order to universities. Each university administers its own entrance examination. Universities are limited by the Education Ministry as to how many student they can accept. Once admitted, however it is still not guaranteed that the student will be able to freely choose his own major as The Education Ministry makes the decision as to how many engineers Japan needs, how many businessmen and so on.

Graduate students are then expected to work closely with theit assigned faculty member, supporting him in interfaculty disputes and even allowing him to adopt their research as his own.