Parents 'turn stricter eyes' on middle schools
Yomiuri -- Feb 09
With their popularity falling, a number of private middle schools have taken drastic reform measures, including shifting to more intensive studies aimed at getting into high school, to attract students.
About 220 private middle schools in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture began their entrance examinations Feb. 1 with fewer exam takers than last year.
According to a cram school chain, the number of entrance exam takers at private middle schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area has been declining since last year. This is apparently due to the nation's economic slump and because the reputation of public middle schools has improved due to the government's move away from a cram-free education policy.
On the other hand, the cram school chain said the number of exam takers has been rising at highly competitive schools, schools affiliated with universities and so-called renewal schools. Renewal schools are those that have, in order to survive, shifted their educational focus to getting students admitted to higher schools.
Source: Yomiuri
| May 21 | Japan Crown Prince to visit Spain |
 Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito will visit Spain for seven days from June 10, the government said Tuesday. (Jiji Press  ) |
| May 21 | Tokyo broker for Thai hostesses busted for wrongful employment |
 Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Monday announced the arrest of a broker of Thai females for violating immigration laws by employing the women as masseuses. (Tokyo Reporter ) |
| May 21 | Claim filed against Yamaguchi-gumi top bosses for arson death in Nagoya |
 The parents of a nightclub worker killed in an arson fire three years ago filed a suit in the Nagoya District Court on Monday seeking damages against top members of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group. (Tokyo Reporter ) |
| May 21 | Senior Kyodo News official dismissed over improper act |
 Kyodo News said Monday that it has dismissed Satoshi Kondo, 51, deputy chief of its general administration bureau and former personnel affairs division chief, for meeting individually with a female student searching for a job and doing an inappropriate act.
(Jiji Press ) |
| May 20 | Saitama cops bust massive child porn DVD operation |
 Saitama and Okayama prefectural police last week arrested the manager of an online porn DVD operation that specialized in films featuring children. (Tokyo Reporter) |
| May 19 | Japan's child kidnapping problem |
 Dozens of American children are abducted to Japan every year-not by strangers, but by parents after messy divorces. (thedailybeast.com ) |
| May 18 | 5-year-old boy's hand gets caught in shopping mall escalator |
 A 5-year-old boy sustained an injury at a shopping mall in Nagoya on Friday after his hand became trapped in an escalator. (Japan Today ) |
| May 18 | Woman stabbed by stalker despite asking police for help |
 A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today ) |
| May 18 | 70-year-old woman rescued from toilet after 3-day ordeal |
 A 70-year-old woman has been rescued from a toilet in which she had been waiting for help for three days, Hiroshima police said Friday. (Japan Today ) |
| May 18 | Traditional dance performed at Nikko temple |
 A traditional dance was performed on Friday at an ancient temple in Nikko City, northeast of Tokyo. (NHK ) |
