Parents Push Toddlers Into Japan's 'Exam Hell'

Parents move back starting line for race to secure best schools

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 26, 2009 3:55 PM CDT

(Newser) – While most 3-year-olds romp and fingerpaint, a growing group of Japanese toddlers are working through stacks of worksheets taller than they are. Enrolled in courses called ojuken, they're studying for entrance exams to enter top-tier elementary schools. Despite Japan's declining birth rate and schools clamoring to fill seats, well-heeled parents have become more competitive than ever, ABC News reports.

"The low birthrate does seem to be pushing parents to give all they can to the one child," one professor said. "It's an act of selective extravagance." Hoping that their kids can avoid public school and make wealthy, well-connected friends, parents pay well for the training—$22,000 for 2 years at one school. And toddlers don't seem to mind. "The snacks were yummy," said one 4-year-old. "The classes were fun."

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (2)]

To get into Takahata high school, and almost all other schools in Japan, students must pass an entrance exam. Special preparation courses for such tests are growing in popularity. (©f_a_r_e_w_e_l_l)

Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meets kindergarten students at the King Faisal school in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, April 28, 2007. (AP Photo/Kazuyuki Tamakami, Japan Pool)

Japanese children from Porto da Pedra samba school perform during a carnival parade at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

An unidentified members of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force holds a child as they reunite after the supply vessel Tokiwa arrived at Tokyo's Harumi Pier Friday, Nov. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

In Japan, preschool children of wealthy parents enroll in "ojuken" to study for entrance exams into top elementary schools. (Shutterstock)

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We advise families that children need at least a year, coming in a minimum of once a week, to have a shot at passing these exams. - Kikuko Fukuda, of Nikken school

The low birthrate does seem to be pushing parents to give all they can to the one child. - Makoto Kobari, an associate professor at Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto

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Parents Push Toddlers Into Japan's 'Exam Hell'