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

To cope with the diversification of abilities and aptitudes of students in upper secondary schools, the Ministry has taken various measures for making the upper secondary education more diverse and more flexible, but there is still criticism of excessive uniformity in the practices of upper secondary schools. The report of the14th Session of the Central Council for Education submitted in April 1991 includes proposals in a variety of areas on the measures to be taken for the improvement of upper secondary education. In accordance with this report, the Ministry has to take adequate and effective measures for the improvement of upper secondary' school education.

As part of this pursuit, the Ministry, upon the basis of the report of the Central Council for Education, sent a circular in June 1991 to all the prefectural boards of education regarding the Council's report. The Ministry has also set up a "Consultative Committee for the Promotion of the Reform of Upper Secondary School Education" and started investigating practical measures for improvement. Including the issue of entrance examination for upper secondary schools.

Regarding the measures for accepting transfer students (accompanying their parents who are moving to a new work place) into upper secondary schools in the locality, the Ministry has requested the prefectural boards of education to expand opportunities of accepting such students, to make the entrance examination procedures more flexible, to establish a special framework for accepting set numbers of such transfers annually, etc. The Ministry also started developing a nation-wide information network to assist in this matter, using a computer system.