a. Local Jurisdiction of Education

The 1879 Education Order differed from the Education System Order in that it allowed local community officials considerable freedom of action in educational matters.

A local administrative system was set up in July, 1878, whereby counties (gun), wards (ku), towns and villages were designated as basic administrative units. Prefectures were at the next level, and the national government occupied the prefectural level. For the administration of educational affairs, under the Education Order of the following year, the former system of school districts was replaced by a system that fitted within this new administrative framework; the newly established educational committeemen were to be elected by town or village inhabitants. However, this liberalized system was soon followed by the 1880 Education Order emphasizing government intervention in local educational administration, as stated earlier.