* In principle, Part 2 is a description of the MEXT administrative activities in fiscal year 2020, but some of the descriptions are based on the activities and statistical data up to around June 2021.
Today, “Education Rebuilding” is an important issue for the government. The Council for the Implementation of Education Rebuilding set up at the Cabinet Secretariat has made 12 proposals on this issue. The Central Council for Education that is an advisory council to the Minister of MEXT, also discusses important issues concerning the promotion of education and submits reports, etc. In light of these proposals and discussions and in the spirit of the Basic Act on Education, MEXT is promoting measures for education rebuilding based on the Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education. In addition, comprehensive research on education policy is underway at the National Institute for Education Policy Research, which is a national research institute.
The Great East Japan Earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of seven occurred on March 11, 2011. The earthquake caused an extensive tsunami on the Pacific coast and this gigantic tsunami led to significant damage, particularly along the Pacific coast in the Tohoku and Kanto regions. In addition, accidents occurred at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station causing radioactive material to be released. The disasters caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the associated nuclear power plant accident are called “the Great East Japan Earthquake” based on the cabinet agreement on April 1, 2011.
10 years have now elapsed since the earthquake. MEXT is working closely with the disaster victims in the damaged areas toward reconstruction and recovery from the earthquake disaster and revitalization of the areas by implementing measures such as the recovery of school facilities and financial support for attendance at school, providing mental health care for students, developing expert human resources who will support reconstruction, revitalizing the region by the support of universities and institutes and facilitating the nuclear damage compensation, etc.
Generally, lifelong learning refers to learning that takes place throughout the life of an individual at diverse places, and opportunities such as school education, education at home, social education, cultural activities, sport activities, recreation activities, volunteer activities, in-house training at companies, and hobbies.
MEXT is now conducting efforts promoting lifelong learning in the 100-year life era, including the promotion of re-learning for working adults to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for work throughout their lives, with the aim of maximizing each individual's lifelong "potential" and "opportunities."
The purpose of education is to perfect the character of each child. Education is indispensable for ensuring that children lead happy lives in the future. Education has another mission of fostering individuals who will lead the country and society in the future. The importance of education will remain unaltered no matter how the times might change. The importance of education has risen even more in recent years, in response to the rapid changes experienced by Japanese society, such as globalization, the emergence of a knowledge-based society, and the aging society with fewer children.
In order to improve children’s education under these conditions, MEXT is taking the following diverse measures aimed at securing educational opportunities and improving educational levels by:
Realizing the education that the National Curriculum Standards aim for
Promoting work style reform of schools
Promoting science and mathematics education to develop scientific and technological personnel
Improving education toward developing global human resources
Promoting career education and vocational education
Promoting the reforms of high school education
Improving textbooks
Addressing various problems in the student guidance such as bullying and chronic absenteeism
Improving moral education
Promoting human rights education
Keeping children healthy and safe
Improving the quality and ability of teachers and other personnel, and establishing instruction systems to achieve flexible and high quality education
Promoting early childhood education nurturing the foundation for lifelong character
Promoting special needs education in accordance with the educational needs of each child with disabilities
Improving local educational administration and community-based school development
Promoting the creation of dynamic schools that address the declining birthrate
Promoting the establishment and improvement of evening classes at junior high schools
Improving financial support for pre-school children and students, and many other measures
Confronted with rapid changes including globalization and an aging society with fewer children, and the major changes in industrial and social structures that are expected to take place in order to realize Society 5.0, Japan must now achieve social structural reforms aimed at a dynamic and sustainable society. Universities and other higher education institutions must take the initiative and carry out university reforms that live up to national and social expectations while recognizing their grave responsibility for finding dependable answers to the issues confronting Japan and its people.
Based on the discussions at the Council for the Implementation of Education Rebuilding and the Central Council for Education, MEXT is working for steady realization of higher education reform, an area where Japan can afford no further delay. In addition, MEXT will promote a range of initiatives to diversify developments in higher education such as training medical staff, lawyers and other specialists, strengthening the functions of university hospitals as centers for regional medical care, establishment of professional and vocational universities (PVU) as higher education institutions that provide practical vocational education to train professionals, and improving colleges of technology (KOSEN) and professional training colleges.
Furthermore, to ensure that children do not abandon their higher education due to economic circumstances, MEXT is working to support their studies by offering reductions or exemptions of tuition, improving scholarship programs and supporting job-hunting activities and improvements to career education.
The ratio of students enrolled in private schools is approximately 70% for universities and junior colleges, 30% for high schools, 90% for kindergartens, and over 90% for specialized training colleges and miscellaneous schools. Private schools evidently contribute greatly to the development of school education in Japan. In a society based on global knowledge, private schools are required to promote distinctive education and research in accordance with the increasingly diverse demands of its people, and they are each actively conducting unique activities based on their own philosophies.
Accordingly, by establishing the “enhancement of the education research base of private schools” as one of the measures in the Third Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education, MEXT positions the strengthening of private schools’ education research bases as an important policy goal. Specifically, it strives to maintain and improve private schools’ educational and research conditions and reduce the financial burden of learning for students enrolled in them. At the same time, MEXT implements promotional measures as it strives to improve the functions of private schools. These measures are: (1) Improvement of the incorporated educational institution system; (2) providing financial support for ordinary expenses such as the cost of labor for teachers and other personnel and expenditures related to education and research, and subsidizing the budget for improving facilities; (3) offering loans by the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan; (4) providing tax support measures; and (5) providing support for management of incorporated educational institutions.
By making independent efforts to maintain and strengthen their management bases and actively disclose information about their education and research as well as their financial status, private schools are expected to create unique and attractive schools that respond to the demands of the public.
MEXT promotes science and technology (S&T) in coordination with relevant ministries under the basic strategies of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation chaired by the Prime Minister. MEXT plans, devises and promotes basic policies on science and technology, formulates and promotes concrete plans on research and development, and carries out a wide range of initiatives based on the “6th Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan” approved by the Cabinet on March 26, 2021.
According to the Basic Act on Sport, enacted in 2011, sport is “a universally shared human culture which is crucial for citizens to lead a healthy and fulfilled life in terms of mind and body throughout their lifetime. Living life happily and fruitfully through sport is the right of all citizens.” The Act also positions sport as the one that plays a wide variety of role in a daily life of citizens, including fostering sound young people, rebuilding local communities, maintaining and improving mental and physical health, creating social and economic vitality, and enhancing Japan’s international status.
In order to make a reality of the ethos of the Basic Act on Sport, the Japan Sports Agency not only promotes the improvement of Japan’s international competitiveness in sports but also seeks through sport to promote a healthy lifestyle, local and economic revitalization, international exchange and cooperation, promotion of para-sports, improvement of physical education and so on, with the comprehensive and integrated advancement of sport administration while coordinating with other related governmental ministries and agencies and private enterprises.
Toward realizing the Basic Act on Sport, the Japan Sports Agency promotes sports policy in a comprehensive and integrated manner in coordination with other related governmental ministries and agencies and private enterprises, including not only Japan’s international competitiveness in sports but health promotion through sports, local and economic revitalization through sports, promotion of sport in a local community, international exchange and cooperation through sports, promotion of para-sports, improvement of physical education and so on.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games are scheduled to be held in 2021, after a postponement of one-year. The Japan Sports Agency is also working for the success of the games, giving the highest priority to the game’s safety and security.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is working for enhancement of functions for comprehensive cultural administration and full-scale relocation to Kyoto. Specifically, the Agency is implementing various measures to improve creation, development, succession and education of culture and the arts, realize an inclusive society through culture and art, create innovations and build national brands. Other initiatives include: promotion of measures for Japanese language and Japanese language education, measures for copyright and operation of the religious juridical persons system.
In the midst of a situation in which the globalization of society and economies is progressing and the environment surrounding international society and Japan is rapidly changing, it is imperative that Japan further enriches its interaction and cooperation with other nations in order to ensure sound growth and make Japan an attractive country.
In light of the reaffirmation of the importance of international exchange and cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic, MEXT, while utilizing new means, is continuously promoting two-way human exchange by developing human resources who can play an active role in the international community and strategically accepting excellent students and researchers from overseas. In addition, based on the diplomatic policy of the government, MEXT is strengthening its international cooperation efforts in the fields of education, science and technology, sports, and culture, taking the needs of the partner countries and regions into consideration, through participation in international conferences by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and meetings with dignitaries from each country and region. Furthermore, various initiatives are being carried out in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations University and other international organizations. In September 2020, Minister Hagiuda attended the G20 Education Ministers' Meeting, which was held via videoconference. The G20 Education Ministers' Declaration was adopted at the meeting, confirming that each country will cooperate to ensure children's learning. In addition, the public and private sectors are working together to promote the "EDU-Port Japan”, an initiative to proactively introduce Japanese-style education overseas, which is attracting a great deal of interest from other countries.
Furthermore, MEXT has collaborated with foreign governments and international organizations such as UNESCO to implement various initiatives to realize the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” adopted at the UN Summit held in 2015. Specifically, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) helps students to acquire the ability to consider issues of a global scale in modern society as their problems and think and act on their own to solve those issues, thus contributing significantly to the SDGs by nurturing the creators of a sustainable society. The SDGs Implementation Guiding Principles, revised in December 2019, further clarify the roles of the next generation, educational institutions, and research institutions in realizing the SDGs and discuss topics such as the utilization of opportunities provided by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the link between the SDGs and culture and art.
MEXT is strategically pursuing further improvements to international interaction and cooperation through these various initiatives.
Today we are in a great social transformation including the advent of Society 5.0. The term “Society 5.0” suggests almost “discontinuous” dramatic change of society where artificial intelligence (AI), big data, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and other frontier technologies are further advanced and introduced to every industry and area of social life. In Society 5.0, advanced technologies including AI may change ways of education and learning.
Nowadays, the use of ICT has become commonplace in all sections of society, and for children living in the Society 5.0 era, ICT devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers are considered "must-have items," along with pencils and notebooks. 1 device for 1 student environment is now the "standard" for schools in the Reiwa era. MEXT is promoting the development of a school ICT environment that integrates hardware, software, and human resources as a realization of the "GIGA School Program" to realize personalized and self-regulated learning and collaborative learning that draws out the potential of all children suitable for children living in the Society 5.0 era.
School facilities are one of the basics for education, thus securing their safety and comfort to improve educational standards, and building safe, secure and quality school facilities, which can respond to each student’s developmental stage, are crucial. It is also essential to be adapted to diverse learning activities well, responding to changes in educational content and methods in accordance with changes in social conditions and regional characteristics.
In recent years, disasters such as the rain storm in July 2020 have become more severe and more frequent, and since school facilities serve as evacuation centers for local residents during disasters, it is extremely important to improve their earthquake resistance and disaster prevention functions. In the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Kumamoto Earthquake of 2016, and the earthquake that occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in February 2021, school facilities that had been made earthquake-resistant reduced the damage to buildings caused by the earthquake.
Building environmental-friendly facilities and measures to extend the service life of aging facilities, which are rapidly increasing, are also issues to be considered.
In order to address these issues, MEXT has prepared guidelines and collections of past examples and made them available to school providers to help them maintain school facilities. At the same time, MEXT is providing national subsidies to programs for maintaining school facilities, including projects for making facilities earthquake resistant and measures to extend the service life of aging facilities.
The promotion of comprehensive and systematic disaster prevention measures is important to respond promptly and appropriately to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, tornadoes, severe rains, and volcanic eruptions, and accidents.
MEXT has taken initiatives for disaster prevention and mitigation measures to ensure the safety and security of students, such as the improvement of disaster prevention education and the reinforcement of disaster prevention functions of school facilities, for advancing emergency measures in response to disasters, for supporting disaster recovery, and for promoting research and development related to disaster prevention and mitigation.
The Japanese government set up the Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters, in which all Cabinet members participated, in January 2013, in order to achieve the administration of the Japanese government rationally and efficiently, and in a manner focused on citizens and based on the demands of the times. The whole government is advancing administrative reforms of various types at present. MEXT has also enhanced the efficiency of its operations and budgets and promoted their effective application.
In promoting effective and efficient administration, the government is asked to proactively reconsider its policies in response to effects generated by existing policies and subsequent changes in social and economic conditions. MEXT has evaluated individual policies and the operations of incorporated administrative agencies objectively and strictly from various viewpoints, including necessity, effectiveness and efficiency, through the Policy Evaluation System and the Incorporated Administrative Agency Evaluation System. MEXT has revised the policies and operations constantly, based on the verification results. In addition, Evidence-Based Policy Making (EBPM) is being promoted throughout the government; MEXT is taking initiatives to improve the environment for promoting EBPM, secure and nurture human resources, and implement EBPM by analyzing the current status of policies, identifying issues, and clearly defining objectives, goals, and outcomes of policies through the creation of logic models and administrative project review sheets, etc. for policy improvement. By continuing to promote these initiatives, MEXT is aiming to promote and use a cyclic-type administrative control (the PDCA cycle), measurement and evaluation of results (Check), their reflection on subsequent planning and designing (Action), in addition to planning and designing (Plan) and execution (Do) in administration.
Furthermore, MEXT is currently in the process of reviving the trust that was lost following a series of scandals. Therefore, MEXT is reforming itself to create a new MEXT trusted by the citizens, based on the “Action Plan for Vitalization of MEXT” formulated in March 2019.
Education Policy Bureau Policy Division