school teachers and a decreasing birthrate, the sizes of schools are diminishing.

Accordingly, the number of teachers in charge of extracurricular sports club activities is also decreasing. I hear these club activities can no longer be conducted at some schools. Are any measures being taken to support schools in physical education and extracurricular sports

decrease in the number of schoolchildren participating in extracurricular sports club activities in society with a falling birthrate, there is an increasing number of cases in which certain sports club activities cannot be conducted because there are not enough members to form a team.

MEXT implements projects to promote the use of outside instructors for extracurricular activities to deal with the aforementioned problems.

Also, to provide schoolchildren with opportunities to enjoy various sports according to their needs, MEXT has designated certain test communities to carry out practical reach on promoting general school sports club activities so that multiple sports are available each season, joint school sports club activities where teams can be organized with members from several schools, and cooperation between school sports clubs and community sports clubs. Through these measures, MEXT is promoting extracurricular sports clubs activities.

Chapter 1, Part 4 1

(4) Less consideration for others and a diluted sense of connectedness between people in the midst of material prosperity

To deal with this situation, it is extremely important to teach children a sense of right and wrong, morals, the importance of human lives, and consideration for others at school, at home, and in the community. In dealing with children who have behavioral problems, it is necessary to instruct them with a resolute attitude based on the idea that actions deemed impermissible in society as a whole are also deemed impermissible to children, and even children should follow social rules and comply with laws and regulations.

As for school education, MEXT encourages schools to promote moral education that appeals to the spirits and the minds of children, heightens children's awareness of rich humanity and sociability. For this purpose, MEXT promotes various experiential activities including experience of community service activities and outdoor and nature experiences. Also, MEXT is establishing support system in local communities, expanding the allocation of school counselors and establishing support teams comprising of schools, boards of education, and other related organizations to respond properly to schoolchildren with behavioral problems.

For education at home and in local communities, MEXT has been distributing “Pocketbooks for Home Education” since FY2004, in which tips for parenting (there is an especially large number of hints given for dealing with adolescents) are given. At the same time, MEXT is implementing projects to support youth with behavioral problems in making a recovery in cooperation with local youth organizations.

Following a murder case that took place in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, in June 2004, in which an elementary school pupil murdered her classmate, MEXT formulated a program focusing on the problematic student behaviors with the following measures:

(1) Teaching children the importance of life

(2) Building an even better learning environment in which children can learn safely

(3) Better guidance on morals and manners in an information-oriented society