BY JUNKO KANEKO

In 1988, the Ministry of Education introduced a new credit system for High Schools. The standard curriculum requires uniform education for all, but the new system aims at individual education, laying emphasis on the student's personality. The school from which I graduated-Hokkaido Yuho High School (Yuho High)-is one the schools which has been operating the Credit System. Since society does not yet have a very clear idea of the new system, I should like to give an account of how it functions, using my alma mater, Yuho High, as an example.

At Yuho High, the system has three main features. The first is that, each year, students must create their own schedules, choosing classes from nine courses of study: Japanese, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, English, Health and Physical Education, Arts Subjects, Home Economics and Commerce. Each of these courses is open three times a day: in the morning, in the afternoon, and during the night-time session. Students choose lessons that they think fit their life style, future career, and level of their scholastic ability. When they make up their schedule, they must, in order to graduate, be careful to complete 44 to 46 of required subject credits and 34 to 36 of their electives.

The second feature of the system is that there is no set number of credits that students must earn in one year. This means that even if, at end of the first year, students have earned rather few credits, they can still move up to a higher year. They will be able to graduate when they have accumulate the required number of credits, achieved at their own pace, over a period of any time from 3 to 6 years.

The third feature of the system employed by Yuho High is that students can come to school according to the requirements of their own time-table. Each class holds a meeting called Short Homeroom, which is adjusted to personal schedules, in the morning, afternoon, or at night. Other class activities, known as Long Homeroom, are also required, as well as participation in club activities, and these are held every week. Classes are mixed, and may comprise students of different age groups, or those who have quit other high schools, or who wish to study certain classes for a high school diploma.

One of the criticisms generally made against schools which have adopted a credit system is that students are too study-oriented, are hard to interact with, and that they lack social skills. In the case of Yuho High, however, one of its requirements for graduation is that students should participate in school events, and this makes up for those so-called defects.

In my own case, I used the Yuho High's credit system to take, and pass, almost all the required subjects during my first and second years. This meant that during my third year, when I had the chance to devise my own curriculum, I could concentrate on preparing myself for university entrance. At the same time, I was able to acquire pleasant memories of such school events as an athletic meet and a school festival. In this way, I was able to enjoy my school life to the fullest.

Yuho High has no school rules, even, and leaves decisions about school life to the students. But " free" isn't necessarily easy: if students were not firmly responsible for their behavior, they would not be able to have a meaningful school life. We call Yuho High a place where every students can explore his or her own way making their own decisions, by themselves, about what academic and social routes to take and follow.

It is said that there are only 10 or so credit system high schools in Japan, while about 300 schools have partially adopting the credit system. It will therefore be some time before this kind of high school is appreciated for its true worth. Yet whenever I hear of a crime committed by 17 year old boy with a mental wound in his heart, I cannot help thinking that Yuho High possesses one of the means that might help to solve these kinds of problem-and that if he had attended Yuho High, he might have never been tempted to commit his crime.