Let the Constitution and the Fundamental Law on Education guide the
nation's schools -- Zenkyo convention

At its annual convention held in Tokyo from August 22-24, the All Japan
Teachers and Staff's Union (Zenkyo) called for opposition to the government
plan for educational reform which will advance competition, control, and
exclusion.

Warning of the dangerous current developing to justify and gloss over
the past Japanese war of aggression in both education and politics, the
convention adopted a special resolution calling for the Constitution and
the Fundamental Law on Education to guide schools based on the hidden facts
of the War and history.

In Japan, schools are being plagued with a number of difficult problems:
juvenile crimes, classroom disorder, absentee students, dropouts, and
erosion of normal family life due to economic difficulties.

The coalition government led by the Liberal Democratic Party has
steamrollered educational reform bills through parliament in order to
increase control over schools and teachers without analyzing the actual
conditions surrounding children.

The Zenkyo convention highlighted recently enacted laws which will allow
boards of education to transfer supposedly incompetent teachers or even
urge them to quit without the teachers' consent.

The convention decided to counter these attacks by strengthening joint
efforts by teachers and parents to develop a national movement in defense
of democracy in education. (end)