Osakans have calculators for brains
It seems like residents of Osaka have a good brain for mathematics. They instantly remember prices and differences of prices between shops. But that is just a generalization, of course. However, with the downturn of the current stock markets many Osakans are feeling the sensitive pinch of price increases everywhere.
Osaka residents are said to be the most sensitive to prices, not only in Japan but arguably in the world.
Many housewives in Osaka try to routinely beat down prices because they enjoy it as a kind of game and they don’t mind if rejected.
Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto recently tried to pry on local residents’ sensitivities to figures when he released the results of academic achievement tests for each municipality in the prefecture. As the prefecture’s results were ranked low compared to other prefectures across the country for two consecutive years, the governor intends to ask each municipality in the prefecture to take serious measures to improve schoolchildren’s academic abilities.
It is indispensable that local governments share information on education with residents to gain support from the local community for schools. However, residents have the freedom to move to another area to allow their children to receive a better education. Close attention should be paid to whether disclosure of the achievement test results will encourage residents to support schools in their neighborhood or expand disparities in academic achievements between regions.
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