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

The 1989 revised Course of Study is successively being put into effect at various school levels. The Course of Study for Kindergartens was fully enforced in 1990, the Course of Study for Elementary school was fully enforced in 1992 followed by the Course of Study for Lower Secondary Schools in 1993. The Course of Study for Upper Secondary Schools will be put into force in 1994 for the 10th grade, in 1995 for the 11th grade and in 1996 for the 12th grade.

In order to fulfill the objectives of the revised Courses of Study, it is vital that teachers make active efforts to develop instruction and guidance emphasizing a new concept of scholastic ability based on helping to develop children's strong points and helping them develop their abilities -- fostering their desire for autonomous learning, thinking abilities, decision making abilities and creative expression.

In order to promote this educational progress, the Ministry is endeavoring to continuously implement the above policies.

The Ministry aims at fostering children's abilities to think, make decisions and behave autonomously and independently. From this point of view, through the cooperation of schools, families and communities with each performing their respective educational functions, the Ministry has begun implementing the first stage of the transformation to a 5-day school week by making the 2nd Saturday of each month a school holiday for all grades of elementary and lower secondary schools. This has been implemented since the 2nd school term of 1992. From now, the task at hand is to ensure the smooth implementation of a 5-day school week on a once-a-month basis through taking the appropriate measures, eliciting further cooperation and understanding from a wide range of related institutions and persons. The Ministry is actively endeavoring to spread information about the goals and purposes of the 5-day school week among related persons and institutions, and with the cooperation of all of its bureaus and divisions, is striving to ensure the smooth implementation of the 5-day school week.

In regard to improving guidance in reading skills, the Ministry is making efforts to further enrich reading skills guidance through hosting training seminars for school librarian-teachers and organizing school library study committees.