CHAPTER 1 EDUATIONAL POPULATION AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
2 Compulsory Education
(3) Direction Taken by Lower Secondary School Graduates
Out of about 1,580,000 lower secondary school graduates in March,
1975, 1,450,000 went on to the schools of a higher level (this figure includes
those who went on to higher-level schools while entering employment; the same
shall apply hereafter), 60,000 found employment (this figure excludes those who
went on to higher-level schools while entering employment; the same shall apply
hereafter) and 60,000 were those of other categories (who did not take either
of the two directions as mentioned above, or died, or whose post-graduation direction
could not be traced).
As for transition in the type of directions chosen by lower
secondary school graduates, Chart 1-7 shows that the peak in the number of graduates
was reached in 1963 (at 2,490,000 persons), that of those who went on to higher-level
schools, in 1964 (at 1,680,000 persons who accounted for 69.3% of all graduates),
and that of those who found employment, in 1963 (at 690,000 persons). Thereafter,
the number of graduates has been in gradual decline, but the number of the graduates
who went on to higher-level schools has been turning upward, as corroborated
by the increase in the rate of their advancement to higher-level schools (from
57.7% in 1960 to 9l.9% in 1975), while the number of graduates finding employment
has been in consistent decline.
Chart 1-7. Direction Taken by Lower Secondary School Graduates