a. The Promulgation of the Specialized School Order

Until 1903, there was not a unified policy with respect to specialized schools, and recognition was given by the respective orders and regulations in response to individual necessities. However, as middle level education expanded, the number advancing to specialized schools increased, and thus it became necessary to establish unified rules for these schools. On March 27, 1903, the Specialized School Order was promulgated, which came into force on April 1 of that year.

Because there were many types of specialized schools, this Order could do little more than indicate the fundamental conditions that should govern all specialized schools. However, the requirement that all local public and private specialized schools should seek approval from the Minister of Education for their establishment and abolition allowed for more detailed governmental influence on a case by case basis.

In terms of the general characteristics of specialized schools, the Order simply stated that "schools which teach higher level arts and sciences are specialized schools." The length of the course was set at three or more years. Entrance was to be limited to middle school graduates, the graduates of a four-year or longer course at a girls' high school, or those certified as their equivalent, but entrance requirements for specialized schools teaching art and music were defined separately. Specialized schools might institute preparatory, research, and special courses. The Minister of Education was to determine regulations concerning the length of the course, courses, subjects and their standards, and related courses mentioned immediately above for government specialized schools, whereas local public and private specialized schools could make their own decisions on these matters subject to the approval of the Minister of Education. In March, 1903, Regulations concerning Local Public and Private Specialized Schools were issued outlining in great detail appropriate procedures for school management. At the same time, Regulations for Certifying Those Who Meet Entrance Requirements for Specialized Schools were also issued. Both Regulations came into force in April, 1903. Males of at least seventeen years of age and females of at least sixteen years of age were to be admitted on the basis of certification (kentei) with or without an examination according to the latter Regulations. The intent of these Regulations was to provide the opportunity for entrance to those who studied independently.

The original Vocational School Order was promulgated on February 7, 1899 , as will be stated later, and on March 27, 1903, the time of the promulgation of the Specialized School Order, a revision of the Vocational School Order was also promulgated (which came into force on April 1 of that year) to indicate that "in the case of vocational schools, those schools offering higher education will be considered vocational specialized schools (jitsugyo senmon gakko), and these vocational specialized schools will be treated according to the Specialized School Order." Thus the "vocational specialized school" type was added to the existing types of higher educational institutions. Schools in this group included the higher technical schools, the higher agriculture and forestry schools, and the higher commercial schools. However, no marked difference could be seen between the ordinary type of specialized schools and the vocational specialized schools under the Specialized School Order.

With the enforcement of the Specialized School Order, five government medical specialized schools which had been separated from the higher schools in 1901 as mentioned above came to be treated as specialized schools according to this Order. Also, government institutions such as Tokyo School of Foreign Languages, Tokyo School of the Fine Arts, and Tokyo School of Music were treated as specialized schools according to the Order. When we examine the types of schools recognized as specialized schools by the Specialized School Order, we find in addition to eight government medical, foreign language, art, or music schools already noted, that there were a total of 31 local public or private institutions, that is, five medical, eleven law, eight literature, and seven religious specialized schools. The number of vocational specialized schools also gradually increased. Over the next decades the various types of specialized schools showed an extraordinary expansion, and they became a major part of the growth in higher education. Their fundamental organization for years after was determined in 1903.

お問合せ先

(C)COPYRIGHT Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

((C)COPYRIGHT Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

-- 登録:平成21年以前 --