To Do List Today:
Prepare for Saturday (A & B)
Vacuuming
Make a list of questions and prepare answers
Sending off the package
Send email to S to send a reminder
Send a reminder for my boss about T attending the meeting
It’s interesting that in Japan, students must take entrance exam to enter high school. It makes sense because in Japan, going to high school is optional. Education through only junior high school is compulsory. In reality; however, more than ninety eight percent (nearly 100%) of Japanese students make decisions to go to high school, and all of them must take entrance exam no matter what kind of high school they chose to go to.
I myself took the high school entrance exam, and the whole experience was very stressful to me. Deciding which high school to go and getting ready the exam was the most stressful part. I had to attend a teacher-parent conference, and discussed which high school would be the best for me, based on my grades on report card. I attended clam school three days a week at night, and studied for the test. Students were given only one chance to take the test, so we all needed to make sure not to get sick on the day of the entrance exam.
It seems that there’s a trend to wards taking entrance exam at a lower age. Some pre-school children take the entrance exam. It is because, if children can enter kindergarten which is part of the famous private school, they automatically advance to elementary, junior high, to high school and university without having to pass an entrance exam.
Some commentators in the panel discussion mentioned that it was not very good for small children to be under the stress of preparing for the entrance exam at very young age. Another commentator pointed out that the engine of the whole entrance exam business was “fear,” and I agreed with him. Passing the entrance exam at young age and attending the prestigious school all the way to university can be very safe option for some families. It is like buying expensive insurance. Life is full of unexpected surprises, so just because a child attends good school doesn’t mean s/he has better future; however, for some parents, having their kids attend good school give them peace of mind.
