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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1994 > PART I Chapter 1 Section 3 2

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PART I New Directions in School Education
Chapter 1. Education that Values the Individual
Section 3. Education Based on Respect for the Individual
2. Implementing the Five-Day School Week


The new concept of scholastic ability emphasizes the importance of willingness to learn independently and the ability to cope positively with social change, essential qualities in the era of lifelong learning. Improving the educational functions of the family and the community is an important task in this context.

As future citizens, children need to acquire skills that they can use throughout their lives rather than knowledge that is forgotten the day after examinations, skills that can be used not only in school but also in the practical context of day-to-day life in society. The qualities and abilities that motivate people to learn and enable them to judge and act for themselves are best fostered through a healthy relationship among schools, families, and communities.

Fruitful learning in school requires a rich range of experience outside the school environment. It is important to provide a mixture of natural experiences that reflect children's needs at each stage of growth, such as cultivating flowers, collecting insects, playing with friends, and participating in youth organizations. School learning is most effective when it is based on such experiences. Moreover, children internalize the benefits of school-based educational activities by applying and deepening what they learn in the classroom in their lives outside school.

The accumulation of a wide range of experience in daily life gives rise to interests and concerns. And structuring scholastic activities on the basis of children's day-to-day experiences enhances willingness to learn and deepens understanding. Schools can teach children the skills required to solve problems in their everyday lives, the skills of thinking, judgment, and expression. Children can verify the usefulness of these skills by applying them in their lives. This approach is also the key to joy in learning.

To promote education based on the new concept of scholastic ability, we first need to restore a rich variety of out-of-school experience to children's lives. This requires a shift away from the present excessive dependence on school education and enhancement of the educational functions of the family and the community. It also requires providing children with sufficient time to accumulate a rich variety of experience in their families and communities. It was from this perspective that the five-day school week was proposed.

The current situation surrounding the five-day school week is examined in detail in chapter 2, together with the basic thinking behind the concept and future directions.


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