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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2001 >EDUCATIONAL REFORM Q&A Q3

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   Educational Reform for the 21st Century
   EDUCATIONAL REFORM Q&A
   Q3


QUESTION
I think that education in the home is important, but are you doing anything new to improve it?

Answer
It has become possible for leaders of child-rearing circles and other people who carry out activities that support child-rearing locally to participate in social education administration, including the management of public halls, in greater numbers.

In recent years, child abuse involving parents hitting their children or completely not feeding them has become increasingly severe. Against this backdrop, it has been pointed out that the number of cases where parents have concerns or anxieties about child-rearing and do not know how to discipline their children is increasing. This is due to developments such as an advancing trend toward the nuclear family, which makes it difficult for grandparents to convey their rich experiences and knowledge to children, as well as the attenuation of local community ties leading to a decrease in the number of opportunities to converse comfortably about child-rearing with other people in the neighborhood.

  As a result, the Social Education Law was amended this year toward pursuing the development of a mechanism for social education administration aimed at improving education in the home.

1. We clearly specified the establishment of courses regarding education in the home as work to be carried out by boards of education.

Classes and courses on education in the home have already been held at public halls and boards of education throughout Japan. However, they were not listed in the Social Education Law as a duty of the boards of education. Through the amendment, the holding of courses on education in the home is now clearly listed in the law as the official duty of boards of education. Through this amendment, it is expected that more learning opportunities tailored to the learning needs of course enrollees and actual conditions in local communities will be made available. For example, courses on education in the home will be held at health checkups when entering school, health checkups for babies, school orientation meetings, PTA meetings and other opportunities where a great number of parents gather, as well as at company workplaces, etc.; day care services will be held to make it easier for parents with infants and working parents to attend; and consideration will be given to dates and times for courses. Moreover, from FY2001, MEXT is providing subsidies to municipalities implementing child-rearing courses by using opportunities such as health checkups when entering school and health checkups for babies under our policy of promoting "nationwide development of child-rearing learning." Day care services are also being carried out for some of these courses.

2. It has become possible for leaders of child-rearing circles and other people who carry out activities that support child-rearing locally to participate in social education administration, including the management of public halls, in greater numbers.

In recent years, child-rearing circles that support parents bringing up their children and volunteer activities concerning child-rearing have grown livelier. It is immensely important to utilize the opinions of people carrying out these activities in social education administration by providing public halls as places where these people can gather comfortably and providing support that includes introducing their activities in magazines.

  However, until now, these people did not come under the scope of social education administration staff who serve as members of public hall administration committees or advisors on social education administration who give advice to boards of education. Consequently, they virtually did not take part in these kinds of fora.

  The law now includes provisions that enable "those who carry out activities that contribute to the improvement of education in the home" to become members of these committees. It has become possible for boards of education throughout Japan to include in their membership the leaders of child-rearing circles, "child-rearing supporters" and others who provide information and counsel parents with concerns or anxieties about child-rearing. Since the amendment, some local public organizations have appointed the leaders of child-rearing circles as members of their social education committee. From now, by hearing the views of people knowledgeable in the current state of education in the home and soliciting their advice at public halls and boards of education, we can expect measures to support education in the home in the management of public halls and other social education administration to be further enhanced.

3. It is now incumbent on the national and local governments to give necessary consideration toward the improvement of education in the home in promoting social education administration.

We are appointing child-rearing circle leaders and others as social education staff and actively taking measures that contribute to education in the home in the various plans for social education prepared by boards of education throughout Japan. We believe that the enhancement of measures for the purpose of improving education in the home is being pursued through measures such as the provision of learning opportunities and information on education in the home, the development of counseling mechanisms, the development of regional support systems for child-rearing, etc. In fact, some local governments are already carrying out new measures supporting education in the home.


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