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

An analysis of recent trends in pupils' problem behaviors and their maladjustment to school life reveals that, while the number of cases of bullying and school violence has been decreasing, there are a growing number of elementary and lower secondary school students who refuse to attend school. There are still a large number of students who drop out of upper secondary schools. Dealing with young people's maladjustment to school life has become an important issue within the education sector.

Efforts in student guidance should not be limited to passive measures for dealing just with students' maladjustment to school life and their problem behaviors. The student guidance activities should be improved and enriched in order to help foster students who are active and independent, considering the individuality of each student. From this point of view, the Ministry is tackling the problem of students' refusal to attend school and reexamining strict school rules on students' appearance and conduct.

In order to upgrade career guidance services so that these are more relevant to abilities, aptitudes and interests of individual students, the Ministry has improved the content of guidance in the revised Course of Study, and is undertaking studies in the area of career guidance.

Moreover, in order to help reduce the excessive attendance of children at academic juku (private cram schools) in society, the Ministry has been making efforts to improve the quality of test questions used in entrance examinations for both national and private lower and upper secondary schools.