In other words, going to school may therefore be the root of the problem. Therefore, some educators have decided there should be no more disciplinary and dogmatic schooling. Rather, liberate the children, or, at the very least, let them have fun while they are still little.
Nowadays, when people first visit Japanese kindergartens, they might be surprised to see half of the kids playing and having fun. Japanese teachers and parents often answer, "When are they supposed to play if they are not allowed to have fun in the kindergarten?"
In the early days, Japan's educational system was largely modeled on that of Western European countries, and Taiwan's system in turn was a clone of its Japanese counterpart. Therefore, the Japanese system is not necessarily any better than ours.
There is one thing, however, about Japan's educational system that is worth studying.
The Japanese government established many child-care support centers and counselling centers for parents and children nationwide beginning in 1994. The quality of child care is now a major issue for the Japanese government.
It's goal is not only to reduce the economic and psychological burden of parents, but also to increase monitoring of instances of suspected child abuse or other misconduct by parents.
These are all parts of the government's project of building a "child-care network" (
Japanese youth are not superior to Taiwan youth. But Japanese society's investment in education, however, is greater and began earlier in comparison to Taiwan.
Weng Li-fang is a professor of the Child Education Department at National Taipei Teachers' College.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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