(1) Current Status of Education in Japan and the Challenges of the Future

(2) Mission of education

(3) For realizing “an education-based nation”

Chapter 2：Educational Vision which should be pursued over the next Ten Years

(1) Educational Vision which should be pursued over the next Ten Years
　1) To cultivate, in all children, the foundations for independence within society by the time they complete compulsory education
　2) To develop human resources capable of supporting and developing our society and leading the international society

(2) Desirable Direction of Investments in Education

Chapter 3：Measures to be implemented comprehensively and systematically for the next five years

(1) Basic policy
　1) Horizontal cooperation: Strengthening society-wide joint efforts for education
　2) Vertical connections: Materializing lifelong learning society based on consistent principles
　3) Clarifying respective roles of the national and local governments

(2) Basic Directions of Education Measures

Basic Direction 1：Materialization of society-wide commitment to improve education

Basic Direction 2：Development of people’s basic strengths to lead the lives of independent citizens and members of society, through ability building on the basis of respect for individuality

Basic Direction 3：Development of human resources with a wide range of essential knowledge, expertise and intelligence to support social development

Basic Direction 4：Materialization of safety and security for children and creation of an environment for high-quality education

(3) Measures for each Basic Direction

Basic Direction 1：Materialization of society-wide commitment to improve education
　1) Strengthening partnership and cooperation among schools, families and local residents to improve society-wide educational abilities
　2) Seeking the improvement of educational abilities of families
　3) Responding to social needs of human resources development
　4) Creating an environment for lifelong learning

Basic Direction 2：Development of people’s basic strengths to lead the lives of independent citizens and members of society, through ability building on the basis of respect for individuality
　1) Fostering children’s “solid academic abilities” including fundamental knowledge and skills, abilities to think logically as well as critically, to pass fair judgments and to express themselves well and motivation to learn
　2) Fostering social awareness, richness in mind and physical health
　3) Improving the quality of teachers while setting the environment for teachers to pay one-on-one attention to individual children
　4) Strengthening the function of Boards of Education while establishing schools’ organizational administrative strengths
　5) Promoting early childhood education
　6) Promoting special education addressing special needs

Basic Direction 3：Development of human resources with a wide range of essential knowledge, expertise and intelligence to support social development
　1) Materializing reliable undergraduate education
　2) Forming world-class, distinguished education/research centers while strengthening graduate school education
　3) Promoting internationalization of universities, etc.
　4) Assisting universities in promoting their social contribution through cooperation among national, public and private universities
　5) Promoting improvement and assurance of the quality of university education
　6) Strengthening the foundations to support education/research activities of universities

Basic Direction 4：Materialization of safety and security for children and creation of an environment for high-quality education
　1) Realizing a safe, secure education environment
　2) Creating an environment to support high-quality education
　3) Promoting education and research activities at private schools
　4) Securing equal learning opportunities

(4) Priority Measures to Be Implemented Intensively

Chapter 4：Prerequisites for Comprehensive and Systematic Promotion of the Measures

(1) Shared responsibilities, partnership and cooperation among relevant parties
　1) The roles of the national government in the implementation of this Plan
　2) Expected role of local governments

(2) Financial measures for education and the intensive, efficient use thereof

(3) Collection and release of accurate information and the effort to understand public opinions to have them reflected in measures

(4) Response to emerging issues

(5) Examination of the progress and necessary revision of this Plan