Japan, cranking it up a notch

TOKYO, April 24 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Class hours and learning content will increase for students in primary school and junior high school in the 2009 school year, the starting year of the three- to four-year transitional period to the full implementation of the revised education curriculum guideline, the education ministry said Thursday.

In primary school, the weekly class hours will increase by one class hour at each of the six grades in the 2009 school year that starts on April 1 that year.

In the 2009 year, fifth-graders in primary school will learn how to calculate the area of a trapezoid, an item that was cut out in the current curriculum guideline. In the 2010 year, fifth-graders will learn how to calculate the volume of a cube.

In junior high school, class hours on mathematics and sciences will be gradually increased during the four-year transitional period. Third- year junior high school students in the 2009 school year will learn ions in chemistry, while those in the following school year will learn how to solve a second degree equation using the quadratic formula. More here:

The Klown lived in Japan for three years. The Japanese people treated us great. I consider it a privelege to have lived there and I loved the time I spent there. As I recall, the Japanese kids also had to go to school a half a day on Saturday.

Here's the kind of uniforms they wore while I was there.