Institute for International Policy Studies

Draft Proposal on Educational Reform
I. Basic Educational Policy in Japan
II. Specific Reforms for the Various Stages of People’s Lives
III. The Urgent Need for Development of a Framework
VI. Conclusion

I. Basic Educational Policy in Japan
1. The ultimate objective of education in Japan is to cultivate healthy Japanese who canthrive within the international community. Given that human beings exist within society
and history, it is essential that we foster Japanese individuals who possess a deep
understanding of Japanese history, culture, and tradition; have the ability to apply
themselves diligently amid ongoing globalization; and are endowed with character,self-sufficiency, and tolerance.
2. Japanese education is currently in a pitiable state, however. Since the 1985–1987
Nakasone government’s special commission of inquiry on education, successive
reforms have been devised for the educational system that resulted from therestructuring carried out by the occupying forces immediately after World War Two.
Although the Basic Law on education has been amended and some of these reforms
have been put into practice, a legion of problems still remains.
3. In particular, the decline in scholastic ability and physical strength at the elementary
education level is continuing, and this trend is expected to persist for some time.
Extreme egotism is also rampant, and loss of the communal spirit has long been
bemoaned. The ability of the individual to socialize also continues to decline, in what is
known as the “fragmented society.” In higher education, too, there has been a reductionin the international competitiveness of universities and research organizations. In
addition, the inclination to look inward has spread, as exemplified by the sharp decline
in the numbers of Japanese venturing overseas; Japan’s competitiveness has waned
markedly.
4. The current flaws in the system—typified by the continuing decline in the scholastic
ability of elementary and junior high school students—are unmistakable. Given that this
could continue with the existing content of education and the existing educationalsystem, now is the time when Japan must make a decisive change of course andconsider concrete and effective policies.
In terms of the content of education, the younger generation must be nurtured so as toafford them ability, a broad viewpoint, and an appreciation of the importance ofcharacter and independence. From the perspective of lifelong education, the current
educational system must be reformed from the ground up, with an appropriate divisionof roles between schools, regions, and households.
II. Specific Reforms for the Various Stages of People’s Lives
1. Infancy (0–6): The objective should be to nurture healthy infants with the ability tosocialize. In view of the decline of the family's capacity to educate—given the trend-1-

towards nuclear families and the increasing proportion of families with a single
child—early childhood education should be compulsory from the age of three.
Elementary school facilities should be used for early childhood education, which should
be carried out with the cooperation of the local community—in particular, the elderly of
the area should be requested to participate actively. This would provide the opportunity
for children to have contact with people other than their parents, and would begin thetraining that enables children to acquire social skills. Day care kindergartens should befor children of two and under, and an attempt should be made to eliminate waiting lists
for admission.
2. Compulsory education period (7–15): The objective should be to inculcate children
with the fundamentals of scholastic ability, physical strength, and discipline, incollaboration with the local community. The acquisition of correct Japanese language
skills through the recitation of the classics, such as “One Hundred Poems by One
Hundred Poets,” and of numerical ability by means of repeated practice, will round out
the student’s basic scholastic abilities. People who are already active in society, such as
the school’s alumnae, should participate fully in the teaching of subjects such as scienceand social studies.
The capability for international communication should be fostered from an early age,with the introduction of foreign language instruction into elementary education.
Biographies should be used as teaching materials to encourage a sense of individuality
in students by making them think about what they want to do in the future. At the sametime, students should come to grasp the concept of community (and feel a sense of local
community and a sense of nationhood) by understanding how society is structured andunderstanding their responsibilities as citizens. They should also be equipped withdiscipline, social skills, and the means to live a well-ordered life. Creativity andingenuity should also be encouraged in school management—for example, the active
hiring of school principals from outside the teaching staff, and the use of local citizens.
The buildings in school facilities should also be attractive and in tune with thesurrounding landscapes, should symbolize the local areas, and should be open to localresidents.
3. Adolescence and young adulthood (15–25): The objective should be to establish
character and inculcate an idea of the state and a sense of nationhood. People shouldcome to understand the concepts of equality and justice and should show tolerance ofothers, as well as consolidating their own characters by establishing their ideals andmaking unstinting efforts in life. People should be encouraged to learn their rights andduties as citizens, participate in the local community, and develop an awareness that asJapanese they can function in the international community (without lapsing into
narrow-minded nationalism). This can be achieved by establishing a clear sense of what
the individual can do for society, rather than what society can do for the individual. One
possible program would make it compulsory for people to spend six months to a year
prior to adulthood engaging in one of the following: an activity that fosters respect for
nature (such as farming, forestry, or fishing); confronting the reality of Japan’s aging
society by nursing the elderly; joining the police, fire brigade, or self-defense forces forthe purpose of engaging in disaster relief or taking part in activities to prevent crime; orliving abroad and working for an organization such as the Japan Overseas Cooperation
Volunteers. The government would prepare options from which to choose. Higher
education should also feature the practical enhancement of foreign language skills(particularly in English), with an emphasis on the ability to engage in discussion and theability to write logical text.
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4. Maturity (25–64): For the first half of this period (25–40), the objectives should beidentifying one’s strengths and how to make use of them and gaining work experience.
Individuals should be helped to build up their abilities to apply themselves diligently ina globalized world and to attain individuality by developing skills in the course of theirwork. At the same time, both men and women should participate in child-rearing andthus strengthen the skills they need to become pillars of the local community. For thesecond half of this period (40–64), the objectives should be the further development of
one’s character, the making of a greater contribution to society, and the reconciliation ofprivate and public activities. Before they reach 40, people should consider what they
can do for society after the age of 40, based on their experiences in the first half of thisperiod of maturity, and they should become those mainstay workers within Japanesesociety who act as a bridge between local and national networks. At the same time,
people should be helped to achieve a balance between family, work, and participation insociety, so that following separation from work and a structured role, they can transition
to a plane from which they can function as independent Japanese individuals.
5. Old age (65 and over): The objective should be for people to use their accumulated
knowledge and experience to give back to society, and to become pillars of society whopass on history, traditions, and culture to the following generations. People should carryon and pass down the history, traditions, and culture of their nation and their region,
while looking back over their lives and continuing to cultivate their characters. In
particular, they should participate actively in education and pre-school childcare (notjust of their own offspring) up until the compulsory education phase, and should play acentral role in directing study in their region.
III. The Urgent Need for Development of a Framework
1. In order to implement the above-mentioned reforms as rapidly and effectively aspossible, it is necessary to review the current state of the educational system from theground up. In particular, the following structure must quickly be put in place inschools—which lie at the heart of education.
2. Elementary and junior high school education(1) Restructuring the organization(a) Consolidating authority and responsibility under a regional chief executive
For elementary and junior high school education, the system involving the Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology and boards of education should beabolished, and authority and responsibility consolidated under the chief of a regional
public body. Existing boards of education should be re-organized into educational
reform commissions—organizations that assist the chief executive. In addition, thesecretariats of existing boards of education should be placed under the direction of thechief executive—as educational affairs departments at the prefectural level andeducation departments at the municipal level.
However, the established role played by the board of education system in ensuring
political neutrality, continuity, and stability in education must be maintained, or there
will be chaos—even after the re-organization. For this reason, the following structure
should be established:
The educational reform commissions should include distinguished academics, andat least one-third of the membership should consist of local citizens (who are notparents or guardians), and parents or guardians—in both cases, ideally current or former
members of school councils—whose appointments would need to be approved by the-3-school councils. The chief executive would need to obtain the approval of theeducational reform commission on important matters such as the adoption of textbooks
and the appointment of school staff.
When authority and responsibility are consolidated under the chief executive, he or
she must first devise a ten-year educational policy proposal, and then establish thispolicy with the approval of the school councils. The chief executive must administer
education in line with this educational policy. He or she may not change the educational
policy without the consent of the educational reform commission and the school
councils.
(b) The state, the prefectures, and the municipalities—their respective roles and therelationships between them
The municipalities should mainly focus on educating elementary and junior high school
students in their districts, through the exercise of their ingenuity and creativity. The
state should designate fundamental nationwide educational policy; formulate basicplans; provide the reform principles and specific instances of reform required for theresolution of nationwide issues; and provide direction, advice, and assistance to theprefectures as necessary. The prefectures should adapt the reform principles andspecific instances of reform provided by the state in accordance with the actual
conditions in the prefecture in question, and provide direction, advice, and assistance tothe municipalities as necessary. However, while displaying regard for consistency withthese principles, the state must show as much respect as possible for the characteristics
and inventiveness of individual schools, areas, and municipalities.
In addition, in each prefecture a director of educational reform evaluation whounderstands the practical conditions surrounding educational reform in each school
should be appointed. The director of educational reform evaluation will report thesepractical conditions to the prefectural governor. At this time, the director shallincorporate in the report any points that must be improved upon in state, prefectural,and municipal policies. Based on this report on practical conditions, the prefectural
governor should offer his or her opinions to the national government and provide
direction to the municipalities.
The municipalities should adapt the reform principles and specific instances ofreform provided by the prefecture in accordance with the actual conditions in themunicipality in question and carry out educational reform in schools on this basis.
(c) Communication and information transfers between the state, the prefectures,municipalities, and schools
It is anticipated that, in practice, the difficulty will be the rapid and accurate
communication of information and intentions within the gigantic educational
administration organization that extends from the national government to encompass theprefectures, the municipalities, and every school. In order to attempt to manage thissmoothly and to reform and promote education, the prime minister should (with theassistance of the minister of education, culture, sport, science and technology) host anational conference of educational affairs directors, bringing together the heads of all
the educational affairs departments—the officials who are responsible for theadministration of education in each prefecture. In similar fashion, prefectural governors
and mayors of the municipalities should engage in the rapid and accurate exchange of
information and intention with those in charge of education (respectively, the heads ofthe municipal departments of education and the school principals), and attempt toadvance education and cooperate with local people.
(2) Appointing and training teachers-4-The system for renewal of a teacher’s license should be further developed and moreteachers who can offer practical foreign-language instruction should be hired. Graduate
schools for teachers have been established; however, consideration should also be given
to the idea of appointing talented people who have accumulated considerable practicalexperience in society or who have a strong sense of vocation to teaching positions. To
achieve this option, a mechanism for providing training appropriate to the particular
educational content and classroom setting should be established.
3. Higher education—reform of the university system(1) System of entrance examinations

Various university systems must be reformed. In particular, the following reforms to theentrance examination system would be desirable: relaxing the age requirements forpeople taking entrance examinations by instituting a system that allows students to skip
grades; relaxing the constraints on the timing of examinations so that there are several
sittings a year; relaxing the rigidity of the questions set (so that that the “textbookanswer” is not the sole correct answer); and allowing each university to determine therelative importance of each subject (while reducing the wide variety of exam subjectsavailable).
(2) Strengthening international competitivenessIn order to increase the quality of teachers and their competitiveness in terms ofresearch, lifetime employment should be abolished and replaced with a system of
renewable employment terms (of approximately five to ten years) based on teachers’
research records. An attempt should be made to strengthen international
competitiveness by differentiating the liberal-arts universities, which stress the teachingof education, from the few universities that aim to train researchers and provide botheducation courses and specialized courses, so as to make the best use of their respective
characteristics.
(3) Motivating students

In order to strengthen the motivation towards research and education of the students
themselves, a performance-based system that allows both skipping and repeating years
and a system of student grants that is directly linked to performance should be instituted.
Based on these suggested improvements, the relative burden of cost on the state, themunicipality, and the individual should be reviewed and the external effects considered.
IV. Conclusion
Educational reform represents the start of a long-term state program. The Great East
Japan Earthquake of March 11 exposed the crisis facing Japan and highlighted the factthat the nation itself has grown weak in its post-war prosperity. Re-organization ofeducation is the key to Japan’s revival and restoration. Amid the unprecedented
difficulties brought about by the earthquake, candid responses to this draft proposal aremost welcome.

May 9, 2011-5-