(2)The Drafting and Proclamation of the Education System Order

Secretary of Education Oki Takato in January, 1872, first made public his intention to draft the Education System Order when he appointed the drafting committee known as the Gakusei Torishirabe Gakari composed of twelve members. Mitsukuri Rinsho who led the committee was conversant with the French legal system and most of other members were familiar with various aspects of European civilization. By February of that year the members had drawn up general guidelines and completed a preliminary study on selected items to be included in the Education System Order. These guidelines were presented to the Grand Council on February 12, 1872, by Secretary of Education Oki, which stressed the necessity of establishing schools throughout the nation for the purpose of promoting national wealth, strength and peace, and outlined a strategy for acquiring the best features of various Western educational systems. Based on population, the country was to be divided into seven or eight school districts with each containing a university and an appropriate number of middle and elementary schools.

In April, 1872, the draft of the Education System Order was made out by Oki on the basis of these guidelines and preliminary study; along with the draft of the Order various documents relative to its implementation were presented to the Grand Council for approval which included:

l) A statement of Intent;

2) Notification of the Order to Each Prefecture;

3) Statement of Procedure for Implementation;

4) Memorandum relating to the Establishment of a Normal School;

5) A Diagrammatic Explanation of School System;

6) Budget for the Department of Education.

The deliberations which followed the presentation of the draft brought up a number of serious problems, not the least of which was the expenditures attendant to the enforcement of the Order.

The draft of the Education System Order was authorized by the Grand Council on July 29, 1872, but the Department of Finance was strongly opposed to the proposed budget. Thereafter a series of negotiations were held between the Departments of Finance and Education, but their differences were not resolved and the proclamation of the Order was made by the Grand Council on September 4, 1872, without any confirmation of financial support, and on September 5,copies of the Order were sent to each prefecture by the Department of Education along with a department of education notification (monbusho futatsu).

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