As it is necessary to operate such a personnel administration system for teachers with insufficient ability in an increasingly fair and proper manner in order to maintain a national education standard and improve the credibility of all teachers, the Special Law for Education Officials was revised in June of 2007 putting into law the provision of guidance revision training for teachers whose guidance had been shown to be insufficient and, for teachers whose ability was still insufficient on the completion of the training, dismissal and other necessary measures.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology created a guideline for personnel administration systems for teachers with insufficient ability so that each board of education could properly operate the program in accordance with law beginning in 2008.

## 3 Regarding the future of teacher compensation

As reflected in the motto “People are the Education”, the success or failure of school education is based largely on the quality and abilities of the teachers, and the teachers have a major responsibility in that they have a large affect on the development of children’s personalities. It is therefore essential to secure excellent human resources as teachers to provide better education for the children who carry the burden of the future of Japan.

Since the mid 1960s, talented people began to avoid low paying teaching jobs and aimed for other occupations, causing the quality of teachers to become a major problem. Therefore, it was decided that the treatment of teachers needed improvement to secure excellent human resources, and the “Special Law for Securing Compulsory Education School Educational Teacher Human Resources to Sustain and Improve the Level of School Education” (“Law for Securing Human Resources”) was enacted to give better preferential compensation treatment for teachers than for normal civil servants. Results were achieved in securing excellent human resources as a result of the Law for Securing Human Resources, including increased competition in the Recruitment Examinations for Teachers of publicly owned schools and an increase in the number of young people of chose to become teachers.

On the other hand, the government is promoting the reform of the total budget for compensation for civil servants, and the “Law for the Promotion of Government Reform for the Realization of Simple and Efficient Government” was issued and enacted on June 2, 2006. This included, in regard to teacher compensation, “the review of the state of compensation for teachers of publicly owned schools including the abolishment of the ‘Special Law for Securing Compulsory Educational School Education Teacher Human Resources to Sustain and Improve the Level of School Education’ (1974 Second Law), reaching a conclusion during 2006 and enacting necessary measures by April 2008.” Further, in the “Basic Policies Regarding Economic and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform 2006” which received cabinet approval on July 7, 2006, the review of teacher compensation was included.

As a result, the Central Council for Education’s Subdivision on Primary and Secondary Education established the “State of Teacher Compensation Working Group,” and taking into account the results of the first teacher work survey in 40 years since 1966 for teachers at public elementary and lower secondary schools (Figure 1-2-11), proceeded with deliberations, and compiled the “Future State of Teacher Compensation” (Report) on March 29, 2007. (See: http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/07062816.htm) In this report, deliberations were made on the review of school organization operational structure, the possibility of differentiated teacher compensation, and teacher working conditions, and the proposals were to:

○ improve the systems of vice principal (tentative title) to aid the principal, an executive (tentative title) to assist the managers, and a guidance teacher (tentative title) to provide guidance advice and training to other teachers,

○ adhere to the Law for Securing Human Resources which provides preferential compensation for teachers,

To reduce the portion of teacher compensation which exceeds that of other civil servants (2.76%) and, based on the results, secure budget allocation from the 2008 budget to create differentiation in teacher compensation for the preferential compensation of teachers under the Law for Securing Human Resources,