In FUNDAMENTAL, we focused on the fundamental conditions of financial support system for public elementary and secondary school facilities, which our division is in charge of. This BASIC section attempts to develop those topics and to focus on current issues our division is now facing.
In FY2002, the total area that the buildings of all public elementary and secondary schools in Japan occupied was 159,180,000 m2. (This figure excluded school buildings that were made of wood). Of this amount, 68 % of the total area (equivalent to 108,720,000 m2) was occupied by school buildings constructed more than twenty years ago. Furthermore, 26% of the total area (equivalent to 41,200,000m2) was occupied by buildings, constructed more than thirty years ago. It has been pointed out that, if the current pace of reconstruction projects continues, by FY2012, 83% of the total area of buildings will be more than twenty years old, while 61% of the total area will be more than thirty years old.
In response to this estimation, our mission is to consider how the financial support for each founder of public schools should proceed in the years to come.
As explained above, a great number of school buildings constructed to accommodate the baby boom generation of the 1960’s and 1970’s will be thirty years old within fifteen years, and many of them will require reconstruction. In order to promote reconstruction projects of school facilities, it is necessary for each founder to make a long-term plan for reconstruction. Reconstruction provides an opportunity to convert school facilities from standardized models into ones befitting our new times and meeting the needs of each local community. With the introduction of new courses of study and the new five-day-a-week school system in 2002, this is an important perspective in the renovation of school facilities.
Our mission is also to enhance the quality of public school facilities whereby not only children but also local residents utilize schools as educational facilities in their communities. A report of the Central Council for Education pointed out that school facilities could also play important roles in providing local residents with various social services and opportunities for experiential learning activities.
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