A few months ago, Baggy and I were faced with a dilemma. We had to make a decision on where Aya will go for her schooling. We had to decide fast, because if Aya were to go to an international school, she will have to enroll in September. But if not, then she goes to public school in April next year.
As you could probably tell, we were fortunately saved from having to make this decision by leaving Japan and going to the UK. Just in the nick of time! No Japanese public school or international school for Aya, she’s going to a primary school in England! Yipee! How cool is that? 🙂 Or as the locals say here, it’s brilliant!
But now, having recently received the official notice for school admission (see image on the left) from the city government (schools are assigned based on residence), we are back to facing the same dilemma. Akala niyo nakaligtas na kayo! After all, we won’t be staying in Cambridge forever, and surely by next year we will be back in Japan. Of course, we are not forced to put our child in the assigned school, but if we do give our consent, all we have to do is return back the card with our details and personal stamp (hanko). If not, then we’ll have to tick one of the boxes at the bottom to explain our reasons/circumstances why we refuse to do so.
Personally, I am not convinced that attending a public school in Japan would be the best thing for our daughter. Why? Primarily because of the following reasons: