The Education Rebuilding Council was established based on Cabinet approval on October 10, 2006. The Council is convened by the Prime Minister, and is composed of the Prime Minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary, and MEXT Minister, together with 17 experts.
The Council held its first meeting on October 18, 2006, and since then, it has established three subcommittees, one on school rebuilding, one on the rebuilding of normative consciousness, families, and regional education, and one on education rebuilding. Deliberations have been advanced on each of these topics, and the Council compiled its first report on January 24, 2007.
The first report, entitled “Education Rebuilding by Society as a Whole: First Step toward Rebuilding the Public Education System,” makes the seven recommendations: (1) Review current “yutori (with room to grow)” education (education with reduced classroom hours and curriculum content) and boost academic ability, (2) Revitalize schools and create orderly classrooms where children can learn quietly, (3) Teach social standards of good behavior to all children and thoroughly instill the basics expected of members of society, (4) Mobilize every resource to nurture capable teachers who are admired and respected by children, (5) Create schools that truly earn the trust of guardians and the community, (6) Thoroughly review the role that the board of education itself should be playing, and (7) Commitment to children's education by society as a whole, as immediate efforts for education rebuilding focused on primary and secondary education. The report also contains four urgent response measures. (Reference on the First Report: www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/kyouiku/kettei/070124houkoku.html) (For an overview of the First Report, refer to the “Education Rebuilding by Society as a Whole” reference material.)
Following the first report, the Education Rebuilding Council plans to compile a series of reports, with the intention to examine fundamental measures for education rebuilding from a broad perspective.
Centered on MEXT, the Government as a whole will make efforts in education rebuilding. This will include further discussions at the Central Council for Education based on the directions of the Prime Minister with the goal of putting the First Report into practice.
▲Education Rebuilding Council (First Meeting) (Photograph provided by the Cabinet Office)
