Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2001 >Chapter3 Section1.4

The results of the Survey on Attitudes to School Education conducted by the MESSC in FY1998 show a trend whereby the degree of both understanding and satisfaction of Japanese children in school education decreases as an educational phase proceeds.

  Given these research results, future school education should be tailored to each child, ensure that children acquire fundamentals and basics, and foster the ability for them to learn, think and judge by themselves based on these fundamentals and basics.

  In other words, it is not only necessary to acquire knowledge and skills, which naturally are important, but also motivation for learning and the ability to think, judge and express, factors that constitute an essential part of academic achievement.

  As can be seen in the aforementioned OECD research, interest in, motivation for and attitude to learning as well as the ability to deal with future real life situations are all increasingly emphasized internationally.

  Matters of academic achievement are closely associated with mental issues. In the survey above, for example, many school children cite "dull and incomprehensible school lessons" as one of the top reasons for the dissatisfaction they feel about their school life. Insufficient academic achievement often makes school life unenjoyable. This results in detrimental effects on children's mental health, such as lack of self-confidence, ambition or joy of self-fulfillment. These effects may lead to problems like bullying and school violence, or produce a vicious cycle of decreased motivation for learning and stagnant academic achievement.

  School education, therefore, has to address issues of both academic achievement and mental health at the same time, not separating one from the other.

Figure 1-3-4