The success or failure of school education to a large degree depends on the quality and abilities of teachers so in order to improve these it is important to promote systematic policies through the fostering, hiring and on-the-job training stages.
For this reason, MEXT is making improvements to the teacher training curriculum for obtaining teacher certificate in universities, and is urging prefectural boards of education, etc. to institute improvements in the process of teacher appointment systems in order to place more importance on evaluation of the person, for example through the implementation of interviews, practical exams, etc. Furthermore, MEXT is endeavoring to enhance teacher training based on degree of teaching experience, etc. and social experience training in prefectural boards of education, etc., and to encourage self-training by teachers. And the National Center for Teachers' Development is implementing training for key principals and vice-principals, etc. in each region, training concerning urgent and important issues, etc.
MEXT is also urging the prefectural boards of education to make efforts to improve and enhance teacher evaluation, for example by constructing a new evaluation system in which the abilities and achievements of each individual teacher are fairly evaluated and then that evaluation is appropriately reflected in decisions concerning promotion, salary, etc. At the same time MEXT is urging the appropriate operation of a personnel management system for teachers with insufficient teaching ability, to ensure that teachers with insufficient teaching ability do not get an opportunity to teach children.
Because it is essential to foster and guarantee outstanding teachers in order to build schools that are trusted in the future, in October 2004 deliberations were held in the Central Council for Education on "The reform of teacher training and the teacher certificate systems." Currently, the Central Council for Education is continuing studies on the ideal role of professional graduate schools in teacher development and on reform of the teacher qualification system, in particular on the introduction of the teacher qualification renewal system.
