Preparatory school - Yobiko

An educational institution that specializes in preparatory education for entrance exams. In foreign countries, examples include "prep schools" in the UK. In Japan, private schools that provided exam preparation education for junior high school students who had repeated entrance exams for old-system high schools and vocational schools developed before World War II, but after World War II, with the implementation of the 6-3-3 education system and the emergence of new-system universities, there was a growing tendency for applicants to concentrate at famous schools. As a result, it became clear that cram schools for exam preparation could be run as businesses, and they began opening one after another all over the country.

Since there are cases where retaking entrance exams is more advantageous than taking entrance exams at a prestigious university, the number of prep schools has increased since around 1955, and the overall number of prep schools has expanded. However, with the decline in the population of 18-year-olds, the number of retake students has decreased as the desire to pass entrance exams at the same time has increased, and the number of schools and students has continued to decrease since peaking in the early 1990s. According to the School Basic Survey Report by the Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), there were 208 prep schools approved as miscellaneous schools with 142,910 students in 1990, but by 2000 there were 132 schools with 49,300 students, and by 2006 there were 91 schools with 27,552 students, a significant decrease. Furthermore, according to the 2009 School Basic Survey Report, there were 81 schools with 22,266 students. As a result, major preparatory schools are offering a variety of different courses, including high school graduation equivalency exam preparation courses for high school dropouts, distance learning using BS/CS digital satellite broadcasting and cable broadcasting, qualification courses for working adults, and supplementary courses for junior and senior high school students.

[Tezuka Takehiko and Nishine Kazuo]

"Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2009 School Basic Survey Report (Primary and Secondary Education Institutions, Vocational Schools, and Miscellaneous Schools)" (2009, Nikkei Printing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

入学試験の準備教育を専門に行う教育機関。外国ではイギリスの「プレップ・スクール」などがある。日本では第二次世界大戦前から旧制高等学校、専門学校を受験する中学浪人のため、受験準備教育を行う私塾などが発展したものがあったが、第二次世界大戦後、六・三・三制教育の実施に伴い新制大学が出現し、有名校へ受験者が集中する傾向が強まると、受験準備のための予備校が企業として成り立つことが明らかになり、各地に続々開設された。

　有名大学の入学者が、現役より浪人のほうが有利な場合もあることから、1955年（昭和30）ころからは予備校の数も増え、全体として量的規模の拡充がみられるようになった。しかし、18歳人口の減少を背景に、現役合格志向が強まるとともに浪人生の数は減り、1990年代初頭をピークに学校数・生徒数は減少し続けている。文部省（現文部科学省）の『学校基本調査報告書』によると、各種学校の認可を受けた予備校は1990年（平成2）時点で学校数208、生徒数14万2910人であったが、2000年には学校数132、生徒数4万9300人、2006年には学校数91、生徒数2万7552人と大幅に減少している。さらに、2009年度の『学校基本調査報告書』によると、学校数81、生徒数2万2266人となっている。そのため、大手予備校では、高校中途退学者のための高等学校卒業程度認定試験（高卒認定）受験コース、BS・CSデジタル衛星放送や有線放送を使った遠隔授業、社会人向けの資格講座、中学・高校生向けの補習講座など多様な展開を図っている。

［手塚武彦・西根和雄］

『文部科学省編『平成21年度学校基本調査報告書（初等中等教育機関・専修学校・各種学校編）』（2009・日経印刷）』

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