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During World War II, many Japanese students were enlisted to actively
help in the war effort, effectively turning schools into factories. Bombings
destroyed many schools. After the war, this left a lot for the occupation
forces to help rebuild.
The occupation team addressed the educational system. The Japanese
methods were nearly opposite to that of the United States: control of
schools was highly centralized, rote memorization of verbatim book knowledge
without much interaction described the standard student-teacher relationship
and the study texts were boring. The ratio of school years was made to
resemble that of the United States' which was 6 years Elementary education :
4 years Secondary education : 4 years higher education. Over the period of
occupation, these and many other trends were changed. A less centralized
hierarchy of school administrators was introduced; totally unprecedented,
parents were allowed to vote for school boards. A new textbook industry was
created.
However, after the occupation faded out, Japan's educational system
reverted to many of its old ways.
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