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

In March 1989, the Ministry revised the Courses of Study for kindergartens, elementary schools, lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools, with the basic aim of helping children develop the competence to live an independent life coping with various changes taking place in society.

The revised Course of Study for Kindergartens was put into effect in 1990. It is scheduled that the Course of Study for Elementary Schools will take effect in 1992 and the Course of Study for Lower Secondary Schools will be put into force in 1993.The Course of Study for Upper Secondary Schools will take effect in 1994 for the10th grade, in 1995 for the 11th grade and in 1996 for the 12th grade.

With a view to securing a successful transition to the revised Course of Study, and helping individual schools adopt part of the revised content even before the full implementation, the Ministry began in 1990 to implement certain transitional measures for allowing schools to conduct moral instruction and "special" (extra-curricular) activities in accordance with the revised Course of Study. For the smooth transition, the Ministry also organizes training seminars and prepares, guidance materials so that teachers may become better informed of the objectives of the revised Course of Study.

In March 1991 changes were made in the form of the Cumulative Records on Pupils for Elementary Schools and for Lower Secondary Schools. These revisions in the cumulative records have been carried out with a view towards making them more useful for continuous guidance of students as well as towards promoting educational activities reflecting the basic aim of the revised Course of Study.

With regards to the issue of the reduction of the school week to five days, in August 1989 the Ministry organized a consultative committee on this issue and in December of the same year it designated a number of pilot schools where empirical studies on the five-day school week were carried out. This committee focuses on the issues of curriculum change, school management including teachers' working arrangements, and students' activities outside school, as well as trends in public opinion concerning this issue. It is expected that the committee will reach a tentative conclusion by the end of March 1992.