CHAPTER 5 - Education and Economic Development

Abstract

The Japanese economy and education have made great progress hand in hand in the post-World-War-II period. The increase in the gross national product is almost on a par with that of public expenditure in education. During the same period, education, by the number of pupils and students receiving secondary and higher education, steadily increased. It is not easy to establish any causal relationship between these economic and educational phenomena, although the recent development of the economics of education has thrown much light on it. However, without the help of positive evidence, which might be produced by a systematic study, a speculative interpretation may be possible. This chapter highlights the interdependent relationship between education and economic development in Japan through the observation of the government's planning of education and economic development, of the government's policies on technical education, and of the effects of such planning and policies upon Japanese education at large.