Government approves plan to tighten control of education

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Government approves plan to tighten control of education

The government on July 1 approved the “Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education” that will pave the way for the government to intervene in and control schools without limits.

The 10-year plan sets forth government programs to be implemented in the next five years as a practical application of the Fundamental Education Law, which was adversely revised in late 2006.

While it puts emphasis on teaching children patriotism and the importance of competition, all provisions that require budgetary measures to improve the educational environment were removed from its draft.

Japan’s educational budget, which expends only 3.5 percent of its GDP, is the lowest level among the advanced industrialized countries. Pressed by public opinion calling for the educational environment to be improved, the Education Ministry has recognized the need to increase the educational budget to five percent of GDP, which is the average of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations, as well the number of teaching staff by 25,000.

However, the Finance Ministry has opposed such budgetary increases on the grounds that the country should spend less on education when the birthrate is falling.

Consequently, the cabinet approved a plan that calls for cost cutting efforts while imposing specific steps regarding what and how to teach children.

The Japanese Communist Party on the same day published the following statement by Vice Chair Ishii Ikuko:

“The JCP has been critical of any plan that would pave the way for unlimited government interference in and control of the content of education.

In order to promote human resources development in line with the adversely-revised Fundamental Law of Education, the ‘Plan’ will force teachers to be loyal to government policies, including the curriculum guidelines. Under the plan, the government will check how the government measures are being implemented, using, for example, the nationwide achievement test and improvements in checking up on compliance.

The ‘Basic Plan’ should be withdrawn because it breaches the fundamental right to autonomy of education and casts yet-open-minded children into a mold created by the state and because it puts forward a plan to slash the teaching staff by 10,000, ignoring the call for the educational budget to be increased to the OECD average as well as the call for an increase in the number of teachers.

It is the government’s responsibility to help improve the educational environment, instead of trying to order teachers to teach what and how.”

What is the ‘Basic Plan for Promotion of Education’?

It has been drafted based on the adversely-revised Fundamental Law of Education, and will be sent to the Diet after setting basic policies and targets to promote education. Each municipality is to refer to this plan to conduct education in accordance to the circumstances of each community. - Akahata, July 2, 2008