In Japan, compulsory education consists of elementary school and junior high. High school is NOT mandatory, so everyone has to pass an entrance exam to get into high school. To graduate high school, you simply get enough credits that each school designates. University is the same. You take an entrance exam to get in and graduate when you have obtained enough credits. After high school, we can also choose to go to vocational school (2 years) to learn marketable skills or go to a two-year university.

Back to the paid learning though. I managed an English conversation school out of my parents’ home all through high school and college. I also had many interpreting and translation jobs in college. What I learned through those jobs — be it technical skills, people skills or management skills — were much more useful to me than schoolwork when I got out into the REAL WORLD. I think everyone should work at least part-time while they are still in school. Credit or no credit!

In England, compulsory education ends at age 16 with ‘9-10 GCSEs, which are done over 2 years and treated individually, in terms of passing/failing, so you could have on your CV ‘GCSEs A-C in English, maths, science’, even if you failed the other 6-7. You need a certain amount of grade-based points to qualify for A-levels though, which continue until age 18 and allow you to qualify for university.

Does the Japanese system mirror the American one, or does it have differences?