In TODAY’s final instalment of a five-part special report on pre-school systems in Asian cities, we look at Tokyo where the waiting list for childcare places stands at more than 22,000 amid government efforts to address the shortage. Measures to improve the transition for pre-school pupils into Primary 1 are also work in progress. Nevertheless, Japanese parents and educators firmly believe in letting a child play and socialise in a big group before they go on to the pressure cooker environment for their formal education.

TOKYO — At Ochanomizu University Kindergarten, the pupils were having a ball of a time when TODAY visited. Some were playing with autumn leaves in the outdoor compound while others jumped up and down trying to pluck oranges from trees.

In the building, children were dancing in groups and some were running along the corridors holding, up in the air, toy airplanes made out of recycled materials.

Just before they went home, the children gathered to listen to stories. And unlike pre-schools in other countries — and contrary to recommended international norms — the teacher-student ratio was high and class sizes were huge, averaging between 30 and 35 kids to one teacher.

Tokyo Gakugei University Kyoko Iwatate said: “It is the Japanese culture. Parents believe that in pre-schools, children play and should be part of a large community.”

Indeed, in all pre-schools in Tokyo which TODAY visited, boisterous environs and large communities were traits embraced by Japanese educators.

Pre-school leaders such as Ms Masami Oshima said that one of the advantages of having big class sizes was that it helped the pupils’ transition into primary schools. When she worked with smaller classes of 12 children in the past, they were not able to adjust primary education as quickly, said Ms Oshima, who heads the integrated nursery and kindergarten facility Daiichi Hino Sukoyaka-en. At where she is working now, “the kids don’t feel as uncomfortable (going into primary education) as they are already used to big group settings,” she added.

The Japanese education system has undergone a series of reforms including one in 1997, which saw content in schools’ curriculum cut and Saturday morning classes eliminated. There were also new guidelines for early childhood education, under which pre-school teachers were encouraged to spur children’s creativity and zest for learning, among other goals.

Five years ago, to bridge the gap from play-based pre-school learning to Primary One, suggestions to smoothen the transition process were added into the national pre-school curriculum.

This included an “approach” curriculum introduced in the last five months of pre-school education - from October to March each year - for graduating pre-schoolers. Under this curriculum, pre-schools will organise activities with nearby primary schools. Pre-school educators will share information with Primary One teachers, and both sets of educators will also observe each other’s teaching and reflect together. Pre-schools also try to prepare their pupils for Primary One, by giving them leadership tasks or exposing them to numeracy and literacy through games, for example.

On their part, primary schools adopted a “start” curriculum at the beginning of Primary One under which there are recommendations such as breaking up 45-minute periods into smaller blocks initially and allowing children to sit on the floor in groups for lessons, instead of having them at their chairs and tables.

Still, due to the pressure cooker environment in Japan’s formal education system, transition from pre-school education to Primary One remains a work in progress, said educators.

At Fuji Kindergarten, its donut-shaped building is designed such that children run at least 180 metres everyday as they play catching on the school’s rooftop. There are coloured stones strewn around the school grounds to attract pupils to play with stones and sand. A farm was also built for pupils to pluck vegetables in the various seasons.

Even as the government tries to improve the transition process, Fuji’s Principal Sekiichi Kato believed a play-based education should remain the cornerstone of the Japanese pre-school system.

The curiosity and interest to learn will help them to adapt in the primary education and beyond, he said.

Parents whom TODAY spoke to seemed to agree. Said human resource manager Orie Fujimoto: “As long as my child is exposed to interacting and playing with others, I am not too worried about the rest”.

MANPOWER ISSUES

For four hours in the morning, Japanese kindergarten teachers play with children on swings and slides, or help them to construct toys using milk cartons.

In the afternoon, after the kids have gone home, the teachers spend their time planning lessons, conducting research or attending professional upgrading courses.

Pre-school educator Miyasato Akemi said it was important to give educators time to reflect. “To implement a ‘learning through play’ curriculum successfully, it depends on the capacity of the teacher…that’s why teachers must be given the time to improve themselves,” said the vice-principal of Ochanomizu University kindergarten.

Unlike kindergartens in many countries including Singapore, those in Japan run for just half a day. This is also partly due to the increasing number of parents opting for full-day childcare programmes instead of kindergartens.

In contrast to their kindergarten counterparts, childcare teachers – who are known as “carers” in Japan - are feeling the strain of their hectic schedules.

One of them is Mr Nagaoka Shingo, 33, who pointed out that a play-based curriculum will mean teachers have to constantly adapt to children’s learning needs. This will involve a lot of planning on the teacher’s part, said the former technician who is working in Shinkuku Seiga Nursery School.

In Japan, the Ministry of Education manages kindergartens. Childcare centres - which are also known as “daycare centres” - are under the remit of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Both sectors are subject to different regulations but they share the same curriculum guidelines.

Unlike carers, kindergarten teachers need to possess a degree. Early childhood academic Takashi Muto said that a twin system for pre-school services gives rise to uneven education quality standards.

Official figures showed that the average salaries for kindergarten teachers are 220,000 yen per month, while childcare teachers get 210,000 yen per month.

Prof Muto called for more of the new integrated pre-school models so that both carers and kindergarten teachers are accorded equal status and opportunites. In 2006, the government officially started an integrated childcare and kindergarten model managed by both private and public operators

The demand for childcare centres has led to a manpower crunch in the big cities. With the government planning to eliminate the waiting list for childcare, the number of carers has gone up by 70,000 over just two years to 2.29 million last year. Carer Saori Nara, 26, proposed more flexible working hours in order to retain and attract women to the sector.

LACK OF CHILDCARE SPACES

Engineer Kenta Yamane, 36, and his wife welcomed their third child last year but thoughts of securing a childcare space loom large on their minds. Less than a couple of years ago, he had to fork out half his monthly salary to afford infant care for his second kid.

Japanese citizens are given childcare subsidies pegged to their income and number of children, but the space crunch – there are 22,000 people on the waiting list - led many parents to opt for unaccredited nurseries that do not qualify them for government subsidies.

Under the government’s system to allocate nursery spots, families with more young children earn higher points. Parents who work full-time will also get more points, as well as those who had to enrol their children in non-accredited nurseries.

After putting his second child in a non-accredited nursery for half a year, Mr Yamane managed to get a spot for him in an accredited nursery eventually.

The lack of childcare spaces is a hot-button issue in Japan, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledging to eliminate waiting lists by 2017.

Recently, the Japanese government announced that it was pledging 700 billion Yen for the pre-school sector. By 2017, the authorities aim to increase total childcare spots by 400,000.

Mr Yasuo Hori, deputy director of the daycare division from Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, said that efforts to attract more childcare operators into the market include allowing private owners to borrow public land to operate childcare centres. Nurseries are also allowed to increase intake numbers as long as they comply with minimum standards.

After starting with the integrated childcare-kindergarten models in 2006, there are now 1,099 of them and plans are in the pipeline to build more.

Overall, the government’s efforts seem to have paid off. Last year, there were about 22,700 kids on the waiting list, down from about 25,500 in 2011.

Nonetheless, as the Japanese early childhood sector expands, Professor Iwatate of Tokyo Gakugei University cautioned about the need for a stronger accreditation system.

Kindergartens practise self-evaluation, while childcare centres undergo regular inspections.

Prof Iwatate pointed out that in future, more private operators could enter the childcare sector and as the kindergarten sector consolidates. “Private operators might cut corners to save money or introduce more academic teaching to keep their customers happy…we have to guard against this,” she added.

The study trip to Tokyo was made possible by the Lien Foundation.