Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture1999 > Part1 Chapter Global Trends in Educational Reform 1

The25^th Economic Summit(G8 Summit)held inCologne,Federal Republic of Germany,in June1999 included discussions on educational policyfor the21^st century and adopted both the Com-munique and"Cologne Charter,"in whichcommon strategies of the member countrieswere summarized.

For the first time in the Economic Summit'stwenty five year history,the Cologne Summitdealt with education as one of the main topics.This reflected the recognition by the leaders ofthe member countries that the social andeconomic situation in the21^st century requiredinclusion of discussions on educational issues.

Mr.Keizo Obuchi,Prime Minister of Japan,stressed the necessity of foreign language edu-cation and computer education,as a new3R's required in a"global age"in which the bounda-ries between countries are rapidly diminishing.He also emphasized the importance of character formation.In recognizing that our economies and societies are increasingly knowledge-based,the Cologne Charter pointed out the importance of creating a"lifelong learning society,"in which people are encouraged to acquire the ne-cessary knowledge,skills and qualifications.In addition,the Charter proposed some basic prin-ciples and specific strategies for creating this lifelong learning society.The educational discussions at the Cologne Summit were a formal recognition that the gov-ernments of each member country had already defined educational issues as an important na-tional priority.Today,educational reform has become a crucial policy issue in many countries.