Thursday, August 8th, 2019
Others


One of the events arranged during the children’s open-office day in Kasumigaseki’s government offices on August 8th is interviewing MEXT Minister Shibayama Masahiko in the minister’s room. 39 students between 4th grade elementary school to junior high school interviewed the minister on a wide range of questions. Among them were personal questions including:

“Which club were you in?”
“What do you find useful now, out of what you learned during elementary school?”
“Who do you look up to?”
“Why did you become a politician?”

Other questions focused on education and MEXT administration including:

“Is it true that when we are adults, the number of current jobs will be halved due to advances in AI?”
“Why are there so many different kinds of textbooks?”
“In other countries, students keep their notebooks and textbooks at school, and just bring home their homework. Why do students in Japan bring everything back home?”
“What kind of study is necessary to be globally active in helping others and the world?”
“What is the difference between working as a school teacher and working for MEXT?”

The details of the interview will be introduced later, on the MEXT website.