Japanese Curriculum

Japanese Curriculum

Overview

  • The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) develops a national curriculum and supports the many local boards of education.
  • The Japanese school in Abu Dhabi predominantly offers admissions to Japanese national children, or children of Japanese women. 
  • The language of instruction in the school is Japanese for all subjects except Arabic, English, Social Studies and Moral Education.
  • From Elementary to the end of Lower Secondary schools, a compulsory program of Mathematics, Science, Arts, English, Islamic Studies and Japanese is taught to all students in mixed ability classes.
  • Students usually travel to Japan to pursue secondary education. 

Progression

  • Japan categorizes the schooling system in a 6-3-3 pattern, with 6 years of 'Elementary' schooling after Kindergarten, 3 years of 'Lower Secondary', and finally, 3 years of 'Upper Secondary' schooling. 
  • In Abu Dhabi, students graduate at the end of 'Lower Secondary' (Grade 9) and typically, continue education by taking the general or specialized streams at other institutions appropriate to their requirements and needs.
  • The table below provides a breakdown of the different Grade levels and corresponding ages of students according to the Japanese system:

School

Age

Grade

Kindergarten

3-4

KG1

4-5

KG2

5-6

KG3

Elementary

6-7

1

7-8

2

8-9

3

9-10

4

10-11

5

11-12

6

Lower Secondary
(Junior High School or Middle School)

12-13

1 (7)

13-14

2 (8)

14-15

3 (9)

Upper Secondary
(Senior High School)

15-16

1 (10)

16-17

2 (11)

17-18

3 (12)

Assessments

  • Pre-school assessments are internally developed and conducted through informal teacher observation.
  • The Ministry of Education in Japan develops and produces standardized statutory assessments at the end of Grades 5, 6 and 9.
  • Assessments are administered in several subjects, including Japanese, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science, with the addition of English in Grade 9.
  • In Abu Dhabi, results from the assessment are used internally to inform the teaching and learning process and are used as part of the transfer process at the end of Grade 9.

Accreditation

The Japanese School in Abu Dhabi is an embassy school, sourcing all teaching staff via the Japanese government. This ensures recognized teaching quality and assures parity between the teaching and learning experience in the Japanese school in Abu Dhabi with that in the Japanese education system. 

Regular progress reports are compiled and reported by the principal directly to the Japanese government, primarily as a quality assurance measure regarding educational provision

Further Details

  • More details about the Japanese schooling system can be found here. 
  • Details about the Japanese school in the UAE can be found here.