In the past few decades, there have been several changes in the Japanese education system, but none of them ever seem to have been successful. Given the situation, I don't think our education system is a good model for other countries.

First of all, education that gives students less hours to study, called "the relaxed education system" has made the situation worse. Because of the curriculum with fewer classes, students are taught simplified subjects. They only learn simple math for example, and some of the contents have been taken away from the previous curriculum. As a result, academic performance among students in average has got lower than ever since after the war. Way behind other Asian countries.

 

To make matters worse, some parents started to send their children to cram schools where they study extra hours after regular school. It could be a heavy financial burden on them. Also this has created the disparity in academic performance between students from rich and poor families.

 

Furthermore, English education in Japan lags far behind that in other countries. It's still focused on grammar or translation, and students can't learn how to communicate in English effectively. In this age of globalization, people need to learn to communicate in the global language, English, and in this sense, Japan is far from a role model. Instead we should learn a good model from other countries like the Philippines, where English is taught mainly as a means of communication.

 

That's why I believe the Japanese education system is not a good model for other countries. The school curriculum aimed at reducing school hours has failed, and the academicl performance level in average is getting lower. Probably it could work as a bad example for other countries instead.