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CHAPTER , THE LONG-TERM OVERALL EDUCATIONAL PLANNING--FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT

The quantitative and qualitative expansion of Japanese education has resulted in an increasing need for more and better qualified teachers at all levels. Physical facilities alone, even if adequate and sufficient, will not insure educational efficiency. It also is necessary to provide adequate numbers of trained teachers and to maintain increasingly high standards of professional training to assure their competence.

The two main problems in projecting a future plan for teacher training are to assure the adequacy of the supply of trained teachers to meet future demand, not only in aggregate numbers but also in individual school levels and areas of specialization; and to assure that the methods employed in training teachers are adapted to meet the needs of evolving and changing concepts of education and training.

Until recently, the former problem was not given much attention, as there was little recognition of the need for any general program to provide manpower to meet general socio-economic demand. In planning future programs of teacher training, it is essential that proper consideration be given to balance supply and demand, in relationship to the general program of supply and demand for trained manpower in the entire society. The teacher training program must anticipate the demand in specialized fields, such as, at present, the fields of science, mathematics and technology. A high level of competence in such specialized fields should be an objective of the professional training of teachers who are to teach in such fields.