Quote:
Originally Posted by dogsbody70
thanks again Nyorin. I noticed in a previous post of yours that schooling has to be paid for and high cost of nurseries.kindergarten etc.
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Nurseries and preschools are generally government run, and are subsidized based upon your income. The higher your income bracket - the more you pay. For single mothers with very low incomes, they will often arrange housing very close to the nursery/preschool... All subsidized. But a double income household with a high income will have to pay an arm and a leg.
Kindergartens are private 90% of the time. I hear there are public kindergartens, but have yet to see one. There are none near here - either way the cost doesn`t seem to change much. They are a flat fee - much more than you would pay at a preschool if you have a very low income, but much less than if you have a high income. (For example in this area preschool for 3+ is 4000yen/month for the low income bracket and 70,000/month for the top income bracket. Kindergarten is 33,000/month regardless of income.)
Preschools are geared toward working parents, with a focus on life skills and the like - sort of taking the place of a part of parenting. Kindergarten is aimed more toward families with a stay-at-home parent to teach the life skills - focusing more on intellectual stimulation and academic things. (Not that they "study", but more that instead of spending half the time on basic life skills like washing hands, brushing teeth, chopsticks, etc etc... They spend the time in guided play and being introduced to letters, numbers, etc.)
Elementary school and middle school is paid for by taxes. There is no cost for the educational side of it - only for the materials and lunch. Of course, there are high priced privately run elementary schools and middle schools - but they are the exception.
High school is all private and quite expensive in most cases.