Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1994 > PART II Chapter 7 Section 4 1

Concern has been expressed in recent years about the declining educational function of the family. This situation has been attributed to dramatic changes in the social environment surrounding families, including urbanization, the trend toward nuclear families, and the advance of women into the work force.

Municipalities, PTA groups, women's organizations, and other organizations are responding to this situation by establishing parent education classes to provide opportunities for learning about home education. In fiscal 1991 a total of 29,000 such classes were offered, and 1.94 million people participated. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture provides subsidies to municipalities that establish parent education classes.

Subsidies are also provided to municipalities that establish Parents' Experience and Information Exchange Programs. The purpose of these programs is to promote the exchange of information and experiences among parents, who have tended to become isolated from community networks because of the trend toward nuclear families. People with experience of child rearing and graduates of parent education classes are deployed as parent education networkers, and contact places for parents are established.

In fiscal 1994 the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture also began to provide subsidies to municipalities that implement Programs for Promotion of Fathers' Participation in Home Education. These programs, which are organized in workplaces in cooperation with employers, reflect the increasing importance placed on fathers' participation in home education.