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PART Recent Trends and Developments in Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture

The Central Council for Education, which entered in its 14th session in April 1989, was requested by the Minister to consider "reforms of various systems in education to mane them relevant to a new age". In order to meet this request, the Council set up two subcommittees, the Subcommittee on School Systems and the Subcommittee on Lifelong Learning, to deliberate respectively on "reforms or upper secondary education and related issues of higher education" and "development of an infrastructure for lifelong learning". After deliberating, the Council submitted two reports to the Minister, one in January 1990 entitled "the Development or an Infrastructure for Lifelong Learning" and the other in April 1991 entitled "Reforms of Various Systems in Education to Make Them Relevant to a New Age".

These two reports' basic conception is that, for the realization of education corresponding to a new age, it is import, first of all, to reduce the mental stress on today's children, to restore their humanity and to place more value on each individual person. Based on this basic conception the Council proposes, firstly in the case of up, order to develop their individuality, and the student selection system should be improved so as to moderate competition in entrance examinations. Secondly with regard to lifelong learning, people should be allowed to choose learning opportunities at any stage of their life and society should be transformed so that such people's achievements can be adequately evaluated.

Moreover, in April 1991, the Ministry set up the Headquarters for the Implementation of Educational Policies and Measures aimed at enacting various proposals presented in the Council's reports. For example, the Ministry sent circulars about the Council's proposals for reforms in education to relevant institutions, and organized a conference on the implementation of reforms in upper secondary education in June 1991.