Without this educational foundation, the rapid modernization achieved in the following years would not have been possible. Meiji leaders moved quickly to put a new educational system into place as a key part of their efforts to catch up with the West and promote national unity. A three-tier system of primary school, middle school, and university was established, with primary school being compulsory for both boys and girls. Following the end of World War II, the Fundamental Law on Education and the School Education Law were enacted in 1947 under the direction of the Occupation forces. Elementary and junior high school attendance is compulsory.
Some schools follow a two-term schedule.
Schools are gradually moving to a five-day week, but as of 1998 children still attended school on Saturday mornings two or three times a month. On average, Japanese students spend considerably more time studying than students in most other advanced industrial nations. This may be attributable to the shorter summer vacation and heavier homework load at Japanese schools, plus the large amount of time many students spend at extracurricular activities. The educational approach at kindergartens varies considerably, from unstructured environments that emphasize play and provide little formal instruction to highly structured environments that are narrowly focused on preparing the child to pass the entrance examination at a private elementary school. Ninety-nine percent of elementary schools were public coeducational institutions in 1996.