Super Science High School (SSH) is a designation awarded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to upper secondary schools that prioritize science, technology, and mathematics. The program was launched as part of its "Science Literacy Enhancement Initiatives" in 2002. Schools with this status receive increased funding and are encouraged to develop links with universities and other academic institutions.
In 2002, the first year of operation, 26 out of 77 applicant schools were awarded SSH status . As of 2006 there are 99 schools with the designation. 204 highschools are designated as SSH in 2014. Highschools designated as SSH receive aid from Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The support ranges from buying equipment to managing poster sessions. [1] Main activities of SSH are academic studies in highschool and meetings where students present them to other highschools students, teachers, and professors. There are many other activities such as field work, visit to laboratories or museum, and correlation with highschool in other countries as well. A budget for SSH was about 700 million yen (≒7 million dollars) in 2002, but it has been increasing and it was 2.4 billion yen (≒24 million dollars) in 2011.
In 2002, in order to increase the number of people who are good at science and can play active roles all over the world, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology started the system of super science high school. [2] Since 2002, every year some high schools are authorized as super science high schools, and now 2014 the total number of them is 204. [3] Before 2005, the period of authorization of SSH was for 3 years, but since 2005 it has been extended to 5 years.
Students of SSH are expected to be advanced researchers, so they learn many things. Not only ordinary subjects (Math, Biology, Physics), many of the students in SSH carry out scientific researches. They present their results to students in other schools, teachers, and professors. Many local meetings take place in each region every year, and the national meeting is held every summer. From 2011, the national meeting is held in Yokohama, and 3500 people participated in the meeting .
As mentioned, professors give some advice to students in the meeting. Also, some highschools invite researchers carrying out cutting edge researches to their school and ask them to give lectures and interact with students. Many highschools give students chances to visit laboratories, museums, and institutes as well .
According to the guideline of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, as follows;
・Management institutions, such as public or private high schools, which wish to be authorized as Super Science Highschool, must submit an application to Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology through the governor or the board of education of the prefecture.
・Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology screens the application and authorizes the school as SSH if it seems to be proper.
・Japan Science and Technology Agency, independent administrative corporation, supports the SSH by spending money which is necessary to research and invent.
・The period of authorization of SSH is 5 years as a general rule.
・Every year, management institutions must report achievements and results of SSH to Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
・Minister of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology takes measures against SSH, including cancelling the authorizing of SSH, if the contents of researching of SSH do not accord to the purpose of SSH system or are improper.
Kumamoto University, abbreviated to Kumadai (熊大), is a Japanese national university located in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture in the Kyushu region of Japan. It was established on May 31, 1949, at which time the following institutions were subsumed into it; Kumamoto Teachers College, Kumamoto Pharmaceutical College (1885), the Fifth High School (1887), Kumamoto Medical College (1896), and Kumamoto Technical College (1906).
Secondary education in Japan is split into junior high schools, which cover the seventh through ninth grade, and senior high schools, which mostly cover grades ten through twelve.
Education in Japan is managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Most students attend public schools through the lower secondary level, but private education is popular at the upper secondary and university levels. Education prior to elementary school is provided at kindergartens and day-care centres. The programmes for those children aged 3–5 resemble those at kindergartens. The educational approach at kindergartens varies greatly from unstructured environments that emphasize play to highly structured environments that are focused on having the child pass the entrance exam at a private elementary school. The academic year starts from April and ends in March, having summer vacation in August and winter vacation in the end of December to the beginning of January.
Niigata University is a national university in Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 1949 and has its major origins in Niigata Medical College and in Niigata Higher School. It is one of the largest Japanese national universities on the Sea of Japan.
The Japan Coast Guard Academy (JCGA) is a university-level service academy established within the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for the purpose of training students to become Coast guard officers. It is located in Kure, Hiroshima prefecture.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community. The ministry is responsible for funding research under its jurisdiction, some of which includes: children's health in relation to home environment, delta-sigma modulations utilizing graphs, gender equality in sciences, neutrino detection which contributes to the study of supernovas around the world, and other general research for the future.
The Monbukagakusho Scholarship, formerly known as Monbusho Scholarship that supports foreign students, is an academic scholarship offered by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and is selected on the recommendation of the Japanese Embassy/Consulate General, University, or Authority. Over 65,000 students from approximately 160 countries and regions around the world have studied in Japan under this Scholarship program which was established in 1954.
Shizuoka University is a national university in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Ehime University is a Japanese national university in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The university has one of the largest student populations in the Shikoku region. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Aidai was established in May 1949 among many other national universities by the Japanese government during the reformation of the education system. The university originally had three Faculties: Humanities and Science, Education, and Engineering; which were consolidated from Matsuyama National High School, Ehime Prefectural Teachers School (1876), Ehime Prefectural Youth Teachers School (1927), and Ehime Prefectural Niihama Technical School (1939). Today, the university has six faculties and five graduate schools.
Tokushima Prefectural Joto High School is a secondary school in Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan, founded in 1902. It is one of the top high schools in Tokushima Prefecture. Approximately 1,100 students attend the school.
Daigakkō is a word used in names of some post-secondary educational institutions in Japan. The National Defense Academy of Japan was established with École Polytechnique as its model. Most institutions in Japan that use "daigakkō" as part of their name are not certified as degree-issuing secondary schools by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology or National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE), an independent organization.
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC (海洋機構), is a Japanese national research institute for marine-earth science and technology. It was founded as Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (海洋科学技術センター) in October 1971, and became an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in April 2004.
Sagano High School, is a nationally designated Super Global and Super Science High School in Kyoto, Japan.
The Top Global University Project is a funding project by the Japanese government that began in 2014. The project aims to enhance the globalization of the country's public and private universities so that graduates can "walk into positions of global leadership". The project is sometimes referred to as 'TGUP'; it has also been (mis)translated directly in English as "Super Global Universities", and therefore referred to on some university websites as 'SGU' or 'SGUP'.
The Japanese government has established National Research and Development Agencies that fall under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Polytechnic schools in Japan are vocational education institutions for short and long term programs, a group of public human resources development facilities under paragraph (1) (i) of Article 15-6 of the Human Resources Development Promotion Law. It involves designated private sector as well.
The Japan Science and Technology Agency is a Japanese government agency which aims to build infrastructure that supports knowledge creation and dissemination in Japan. It is one of the National Research and Development Agencies, overseen by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI). It operates from headquarters in Kawaguchi, Saitama in the Greater Tokyo Area, and in Chiyoda in central Tokyo.
Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Central Senior High School, abbreviated as Matsuyama Chuo or MCHS or MCH, is a public high school located in Ido-machi, Matsuyama, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan established in 1986 and opened in 1987 as the newest prefectural academic high school in Ehime Prefecture.
Tokyo Metropolitan Toyama High School is a public day school run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The campus is located in Toyama 3-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.
