The Kagoshima Prefecture Board of Education has announced it will conduct nationwide recruitment for Nanshun Junior-Senior High School, an integrated secondary and upper secondary school slated to open in April 2015. The school will be Japan’s first public all boys boarding school and aims to cultivate top ranking leaders and students who can gain admission to the country’s most selective universities. The school, which will be built on the site of the former prefectural Koyama High School in Kimotsuki Town, will offer 40 to 50 hours of required subjects per year, including an astronomy class taught in cooperation with staff from the nearby Uchinoura Space Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Academic advisors will be assigned to the dorm to provide students with study guidance and shore up their basic scholastic abilities with check tests. The total project cost is estimated at 4.8 billion, and while the aim is to offer better service, some have criticized the government for its “if you build it, they will come” mentality. One local group said the plan to open an all boys public school contravenes gender equality. The Board of Education says that many parents find it hard send their junior high school age daughters to boarding schools. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 11/2
