By MASAYUKI TAKASHIMA/ Staff Writer
February 1, 2024 at 18:58 JST
Children and their parents arrive at a private junior high school in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward for its entrance exam on Feb. 1. (Yuki Shibata)
Entrance exams for private junior high schools in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture kicked off on Feb. 1, with the percentage of applications expected to hit a record high.
On the peak day for the highly competitive exams, thousands of children sat for their tests at about 220 schools, according to Eikoh Inc., a major exam preparation school chain.
Before 7 a.m., test-takers already gathered outside Musashi Junior High School in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward, waiting for the school's gate to open.
“I’ve studied hard, giving up my love for playing video games,” said a 12-year-old applicant from Fujimino, Saitama Prefecture. “I definitely want to pass.”
Applications for entrance exams to private and a select number of public junior high schools have been gradually increasing since fiscal 2015, driven partly by the growing popularity of university-affiliated schools, according to Eikoh.
These affiliated schools have attracted more students due to concerns about intensifying competition for university entrance exams, triggered by a government policy change.
Other private schools gained attention for their swift and successful adoption of the latest technologies, such as online lessons, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the opening of new schools and the recent trend of all-male and all-female schools becoming coeducational have contributed to the rising number of students seeking private junior high school educations.
An estimated 67,500 sixth-grade children of elementary schools, or 23.34 percent, have applied to take junior high school entrance exams in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures, according to Eikoh.
Although the number of applicants is roughly the same as the previous year, the percentage of testees could be the highest ever due to the declining population overall of sixth-graders in the area.
The applicant count and the percentage of test-takers are expected to remain largely unchanged in the coming years.
In Japan, junior high school is part of compulsory education, meaning everyone can attend their local public schools without taking an entrance exam or paying tuition fees.
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