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PART Issues and Developments of Policies in Education, Science and Culture

It is said that the first teachers for children to meet in life are parents. Families are the first facilitators for children to develop their personalities, the role parents play is very important. Recently, however, nuclear families and a smaller number of children in increasingly well-to-do families have become a tendency, and, reportedly, the educational influence of the family and the community has deteriorated.

To cope with this situation, it has been initiated to expand learning opportunities for parents by opening family education classes, producing and distributing family education materials appropriate to developmental levels of children and providing family education television programs, and undertaking counselling programs dealing with the stresses of child rearing. Exchange programs of parents' experience and information in communities are so practiced as to activate the educational function of the family and the community.

In order to cope with the anticipated changes surrounding families, comprehensive programs need to be implemented, while keeping close contact with related authorities.