Japann Students giving a lesson on SDG 4 to members of parliaments

Executive Summary

Civil Society Spotlight Report on the
SDG 4 Implementation Status in Japan
Government Rollout and Implementation of the SDGs and
SDG 4
COUNTRY FACTS
AND FIGURESTOTAL POPULATION:

112,620,000 as of 1 May 2019
(Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications)

POPULATION AGED
14 YEARS ANDYOUNGER:

16.429 million (12.88%) (UNESCO,2017)

GNI PER CAPITA:

US$ 38,520 (World Bank, 2017)

INCOME GROUP:

High Income Status (World Bank,
2018)

HDI VALUE AND
RANK:

0.909, 19 out of 189 (UNDP, 2017)

OUT OF SCHOOL:

118,248 children- 50,982 female
and 67,266 male (UNESCO, 2016)
4,487 adolescents (UNESCO, 2016)
2.9% of the GNP and 8.0% of thetotal government expenditure.

EDUCATION
EXPENDITURE:

Funding education is a joint
responsibility of the Ministryof Education and the local
government.

The Government of Japan (GoJ) formed the Sustainable Development Goals
Promotion Headquarters (SDGs HQ) at the Prime Minister’s Office. The headof the HQ is the Prime Minister, while all the ministers are its members.
The SDGs HQ announced the “SDGs Implementation Guiding Principles”1 inDecember 2016, which identifies the priority areas and the list of specificmeasures with indicators. The Prime Minister’s Office has also announced theannual “SDGs Action Plan” in 2018 and 2019 based on the Guiding Principles.
However, most of the measures shown in these policy documents are a set ofexisting measures of respective ministries without additional resources. Bothdomestic and overseas measures described in the SDGs Implementation
Guiding Principles to achieve SDG 4 are shown in the table. (see table)

CSOs’ Role in the SDG Implementation and Review Process
The Japan Civil Society Network on SDGs, or “SDGs Japan” has been formed
to make advocacy efforts, of which Japan NGO Network for Education (JNNE),a Japanese coalition of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), is an active
member. The Prime Minister’s Office organised the SDGs Promotion Round
Table Committee, an official policy dialogue mechanism of the government,
civil society organisations (CSOs), academia, and private actors. However,the policy dialogue with the Ministry of Education (MoE) on SDG 4 is limited.
Policy-making processes, particularly on SDG 4.7, is not participatory andinclusive and lacks a bottom-up approach in which CSOs and schools working
on SDG 4.7 can have a say.
SDGs Japan produced “A Report by Japanese Civil Society for UN HLPF 2017”
on the occasion of VNR of Japan. It has also submitted the “Bottom-Up Action
1		

Available at https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000252819.
pdf#search=%27SDG+guiding+principle%27

Plan” to the SDGs Promotion Round Table Committee toinfluence the “SDGs Action Plan” of the government. JNNE
has organised an annual campaign called the World Biggest
Lesson in which 50,000 children and youth learn about SDG
4 and write lobby letters to the GoJ, which were submitted
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). As part of thecampaign, students give a lesson on SDG 4 and Japan’s rolein education aid to members of parliament.

Reviewing Progress on SDG 4
The Government of Japan has driven progress towards
achieving SDG 4, first, through the inclusion of learning
about the SDGs in the new school curricula, which will
be implemented from 2020. Second, the MoE started tosupport the capacity-building of personnel promoting
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), including
non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Third, integrated
classrooms where students with disabilities are able to learn
with students without disabilities are expanded to upper
secondary education. Fourth, as an overseas measure, the
GoJ committed to providing US$200 million to support theeducation of girls and women in developing countries, andto enhance the support for humanitarian assistance, as well
as for women’s empowerment in crisis.
Despite these signs of progress, critical gaps in the current
SDG 4 policy remain. First, there are no policies and measuresn Education financing session at C7 summit in Tokyo 2019to address adult and youth literacy (SDG 4.6) in spite of thefact that a million migrant workers and more than a million
adults who could not complete lower secondary school
have difficulties with their functional Japanese language
skills. An alternative learning system and robust researchon the literacy rate in Japan are thus crucial to meet theircommunication needs and improve their literacy skills.
Second, the indicators for SDG 4.7 are not relevant andclear since it does not employ the global indicator of SDG
4.7. Third, the percentage of Japanese Official Development
Assistance (ODA) allocated for primary and secondary
education is only 1.9 per cent, while other Development
Assistance Committee (DAC) nations allocate 5.5 per centof their aids to basic education. The amount of contributionof the Japanese government to the Global Partnershipfor Education (GPE), a multilateral aid agencies for basic
education, ranks 17th out of 22 nations, with only 0.53 percent share in all donors’ contributions to GPE. Finally, theprogramme to promote the Japanese-style education model
to be implemented outside Japan is donor-driven. It ignores
the ownership of governments and is not aligned with thenational education policy.

Critical Education Issues
The education sector in Japan faces significant challenges
with low government spending. Only 2.9 per cent of
the GDP is allocated to education, the lowest among 34
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) member states in spite of the higher actual cost of
education from Early Childhood Care and Development(ECCD) to tertiary education which is US$12,120 perperson on average.2 Considering that 14 per cent of thehouseholds with children in the country are living below
the poverty line, the insufficient spending on education
results in the following major problems. First, 52 per centof the cost for ECCD is paid by households, which leads tolower participation rates. Only 23 per cent of children under3 years of age receive ECCD, lower than the average of 31
per cent among OECD members. Second, 68 per cent of thecost of tertiary education is paid by households. A university
student falls in debt of US$32,710 on average at the timeof graduation, which takes 15 years to return. Finally, theworking conditions of teachers are poor, negatively affecting
the quality of teaching and, in turn, student learning. The
student-teacher ratio in primary education is 27, bigger than
21 of the OECD members’ average, and in lower secondary
education, it is 32 which is much bigger than 23 of the OECDmembers’ average. The shortage of teachers leads to longer
working hours, 1,883 hours a year, which is 200 hours morethan the OECD members’ average.
Children and youth with foreign roots are considered themost marginalised group who are left behind and denied theirright to education. The number of children in public primaryand lower secondary schools who need Japanese language
training is 44,000 in 2016.3 Thus, providing opportunities
for home language education, as well as mother-tongue
education, and supporting their basic Japanese language
learning should be guaranteed. In addition, securing thelegal status equivalent to formal schools for foreign schools
in Japan, including Korean upper secondary schools, will bebeneficial to foreign students. These schools should also be
subject to the free tuition upper secondary school system.
Another ongoing challenge for Japan is the increase in thenumbers of bullying cases and truant children in schools,
reaching the highest record in 2017.4 In fact, 414,378 casesof bullying in public and private primary and lower secondary
schools, as well as schools for students with disabilities, werereported, while the number of truant children in primary andlower secondary schools reached 144,031 in 2017 alone. It is
2 Education at a Glance 2018, OECD
3 Ministry of Education, 2016, Text in Japanese is available at
http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/29/06/__icsFiles/
afieldfile/2017/06/21/1386753.pdf
4 Ministry of Education, 2018, Text in Japanese is available at http://
www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/detail/__icsFiles/
afieldfile/2019/01/10/1412082-2901.pdf

also troubling to note that youth suicide inJapan is the worst among the G7 countries.
This suggests that the right to education for
all children is not guaranteed, and schools
fail to provide safe, secure, and enabling
environments for learning. The GoJ
already has plans to address the rampant
issues of bullying and truancy, but these
are not included in the SDG Action Plan.
Eliminating all cases of school bullying andschool absenteeism will require the GoJ toprioritise these issues in the SDG Action
Plan.

Recommendationsn Brazilian school in Japan

In conclusion, it is imperative that theGovernment of Japan take the necessary
actions to ensure the delivery of inclusive
and equitable quality education for all children, youth, andadults. We recommend three points. Firstly, the GoJ should
increase the education budget to at least 4.2 per cent of theGross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the average among
OECD member countries. Secondly, the GoJ should provide

and allocate ample, consistent, and well-targeted resources
to ensure the education rights of children, youth, and adults,
especially migrant workers and those who could not complete
lower secondary education. Finally, it is recommended that
the GoJ address bullying cases in schools and support truant
children. •SPECIFIC MEASURES TO ACHIEVE SDG 4 DESCRIBED IN“SDGS IMPLEMENTATION GUIDING PRINCIPLES”
SDG 4
TARGETSMEASURES

INDICATORS

4.1

Enhancement of elementary and s econdary education
Give support to children in completing elementary and secondary
education to ensure equal opportunities in education. Revise andimplement the national curriculum standards to provide children with asufficient level of education throughout the country and help them foster
competency required for the new era. Also to this end, improve the quality
and abilities of teachers and enhance the allocation of teacher and otherstaffs.

(1) Upper secondary graduation rates(2) Decrease in the number of students positioned
in the lower learning groups in international student
assessment surveys(3) Increase of learning motivation and improvement oflearning habits among students

4.2

Enhancement of early childhood education
Early childhood education provides the foundation for the lifelong
development of personality and it is therefore critical to provide all children
with opportunities to receive high-quality early childhood education
regardless of the economic situations of their households. Accordingly,
work to step by step make early childhood education free of charge while
also improving the quality.

(1) Percentage of children attending kindergarten andothers(2) Percentage of children receiving free-of-charge
childcare

4.3

Enhancement of higher education
In light of the importance of developing highly skilled human resources
at higher education institutions, provide highly motivated and talented
students with opportunities to receive higher education by meansof establishing a grant-type scholarship scheme and other economic
assistance, while enhancing support to students in general and also
providing people already working in society with second learning
opportunities at universities, professional training college and others.

(1) Percentage of students who enter higher education
institutions(2) Expansion of systems to allow students to receive
education on a part-time basis at universities and systems
to enable those already working in society to attend andcomplete courses of learning(3) Greater adult student enrollment in universities, juniorcolleges, and specialized training colleges.
(4) Situation concerning applicants for and recipients ofscholarships

4.4

Enhancement of career education and vocational education
In addition to raising basic and general abilities that provide a foundation
for social and vocational independence, we will prepare opportunities inwhich students can correspond to the mobilization of the labor market
and gain practical and academic knowledge and skills throughout their
lifetimes.
In order to achieve this, enhancement of career education, improvement ofinternship projects, and collaboration between education and employment
are required to avoid job mismatching.

(1)Improving student experiences in workplace andinternship projects in secondary schools, universities,
junior colleges, colleges of technology, and specialized
training colleges, etc.
(2)Greater adult student enrollment in universities, juniorcolleges, and specialized training colleges

DOMESTIC MEASURES

4.5

4.7

Promotion of education to meet special needs and provision of
educational and learning opportunities to foster gender equality
For the creation of an inclusive society, provide persons with disabilities
with sufficient education according to their age, abilities and personal
characteristics. To this end, improve and enhance the content and methodsof education given to them. Also, for the creation of a gender equal society,foster gender equality at schools and in households and local communities,
and increase educational and learning options.

(1) Percentage of individual instruction plans andindividual educational support plans created for children
and students with disabilities at early childhood andelementary and secondary educational institutions(2) Number of students with disabilities attending higher
education institutions

Provision of vocational training to persons with disabilities
According to the third Basic Programme for Persons with Disabilities,
provide persons with disabilities with vocational training that gives
consideration to their disabilities at vocational ability development schools
for disabled persons, and also provide them with a range of training
according to their situations by making use of educational and training
institutes in the private sector to which such training can be commissioned.

(1) Employment rate of those who have completed
courses at vocational ability development schools fordisabled persons(2) Employment rate of those who have completed
courses provided by private sector institutes oncommission from the government

Promotion of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) andenvironmental education
In line with the national implementation plan on Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) and , the act on the promotion of environmental
conservation activities through environmental education, strengthen
cooperation among multiple stakeholders which are involved in ESD andenvironmental education so as to provide suitable education to people
at home, work place, region, school, and others in accordance with theirdevelopment levels. In order to nurture children’s competencies to be acreator of sustainable societies and the world, promote SDGs education
through improving curriculum and revising teaching materials at schoolin accordance with the new national curriculum standards that will be
implemented from April 2020.

Steady implementation of ESD and environmental
education

OVERSEAS MEASURES
4

Learning Strategy for Peace and GrowthBased on the issue-specific policies set for educational support in
September 2015, provide support to the achievement of Sustainable
Development Goal 4 in developing countries based on the following
policies: (1) education cooperation to achieve inclusive, equitable andquality learning; (2) education cooperation for industrial, science &technology human resource development and sustainable social economic
development; and (3) establishment and expansion of both internationaland regional educational cooperation networks.

(1) Global indicator (4.1.1)
Proportion of children and young people: (a) in Grade2 or 3; (b) at the end of primary education; and (c) at
the end of lower secondary education achieving atleast a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii)mathematics, by sex(2) Contribution in the educational field (development
cooperation)

4.1
4.2
4.3

Dissemination of Japanese-style education using
public-private collaboration platform
Based on the EDU-Port Japan public-private collaboration platform, toachieve successful educational collaboration with international partners,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
and other partners will hold international forums and pilot programs.
Through these efforts, Japan intends to build stronger relations of trustand cooperation with those countries that Japan collaborates with, andfurthermore, improve the education of both Japan and other countries.

Number of cases in which the Japanese-style education
model was implemented outside Japan in response to
the needs of each foreign country (10 cases by the end of
fiscal 2020)

JAPAN NGO NETWORK FOR EDUCATION (JNNE)
c/o Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA)
31, Daikyo-cho, Shinnjuku-ku, Tokyo 〒160-0015
TEL: 03-5360-1245 | E-mail: jnne@sva.or.jp
JNNE, Japan NGO Network for Education is a coalition of 20 Japanese NGOs working
for education development in developing countries. Our mission is to contribute toachieving SDG4 through advocacy, campaigning, capacity building, research andnetworking. JNNE is a member of Global Campaign for Education (GCE).

ASIA SOUTH PACIFIC ASSOCIATION FOR BASIC AND ADULTEDUCATION (ASPBAE) is a regional association of more than 200
organisations and individuals working towards promoting
quality education for all and transformative and liberating,lifelong adult education and learning.
Unit 106 Sterten Place Condominium
116 Maginhawa Street, Teachers Village East, Diliman
Quezon City 1101, Philippines
Tel/Fax: 63 2 441 4594
Email: aspbae@gmail.com | Website: www.aspbae.org

ISBN: 978-621-95859-0-3