○ In this Plan, we define our activities with the following five policies from the perspective of the aforementioned lifelong maximization of possibilities and opportunities and with a focus on the foundation for implementing educational policies.

1.Hold dreams and ambitions and foster abilities necessary to realize possibilities.
2.Foster diversified abilities to lead sustainable development of society
3.Develop environment where people can learn and play active roles throughout life
4.Build safety nets for learning so that everyone can be a leader of society
5.Develop foundation for implementation of educational policies

○ When developing educational policies, it is necessary to collaborate with policies related to sports, culture and arts, and science and technology, policies related to children and youth, welfare policies, health and medical policies, labor policies, taxation policies, and other policies in other fields and activities must be engaged in integrally by the relevant ministries in national governments and by boards of education integrally with other departments and agencies in local government. At the same time, in consideration of the situation where issues that have become more complicated and difficult, etc., national government, universities, etc., companies, NPO, and other various groups must cooperate and collaborate with each other.

○ In addition, local governments are required to strive to establish plans related to education while considering national plans. It is important that national governments mutually cooperate with local governments to implement effective measures by developing good practices vertically and by other means.

○ Furthermore, it is necessary to implement educational policies effectively and steadily, to define required outcomes in light of the objective of the policies in order to communicate the meaning of the educational policies broadly to citizens and to obtain their understanding, and additionally to establish a PDCA cycle based on objective evidence, such as developing objective evidence, understanding issues, and reflecting existing and new measures by giving feedback of the evaluation results.

○ When evaluating policies, it is important to conduct evaluation based on the objectives and characteristics of measures and to engage in activities while not only paying attention to pursuing results from the short-term perspective.

1. Hold dreams and ambitions and foster abilities necessary to realize possibilities.

Fostering Solid academic ability, Richness in mind, Healthy body, etc.

○ Because it is a complicated and unforeseeable society, we are required to accept changes positively, to make society, our lives, and living richer by using the sensitivity unique to human begins, to create new values and behavior that lead to the resolution of complicated and diversified issues of today's society through independence learning and cooperation with diversified people. It is important to review contemporary meaning of the Competencies for living that has been fostered in education until now and fostering academic abilities, richness in mind, health and physical strength that have been valued, and to steadily foster the abilities necessary for realizing possibilities with dreams and ambitions.

○ In recent years, there have been studies on the impact that early childhood education has on subsequent academic abilities and athletic abilities and on the impact on lives after children become adults. Therefore, the importance of providing quality education from early childhood so that all children can grow soundly regardless of classification or kindergartens, nursery schools, and centers for Early Childhood Education and Care and entities that established them.

○ Concerning competencies to be fostered with an eye towards the model of society in 2030 and after in the stage of elementary and secondary education, in order to steadily foster them based on three pillars, “What does a student understand and what can a student do,” “How to use what a student understands and what a student can do,” and “How can a student get involved in society and the world and live a better life,” the new National Curriculum Standards must be disseminated thoroughly and implemented steadily.(*1) In doing this, in particular, it is important to implement the lesson improvement from the perspective of proactive, interactive and authentic learning （lesson improvement from the perspective of Active Learning）, and to establish curriculum management.

○ In addition, we need to engage in the enhancement of tailored instructions towards provision of quality education and the promotion of education depending on the situation of every single child, and individuals are required to acquire True Learning Abilities （three elements of academic abilities(*2)） in order to overcome the upcoming severe period and to create new values. Based on the fact that it is required to provide education to foster said abilities consistently from elementary and secondary education until higher education, it is necessary to conduct the new National Curriculum Standards steadily and reform the connection between upper secondary schools and universities, such as university entrance examination reform, university education reform, etc.

○ In addition to solid academic abilities, it is essential to foster richness in mind for sound growth of children. For this reason, it is important to conduct education to inherit and develop Japanese traditions and cultures as well as fostering abilities to build human relationships, abilities to overcome difficulties and achieve things, and public spirit, etc., through rich emotion and normative consciousness, respect of one’s own life and the lives of others, self-affirmation and a sense of usefulness, consideration of others, and face-to-face communication. In particular, a relationship of trust between school personnel and students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools is important when fostering the aforementioned competencies. In addition, concerning various issues related to student guidance, such as bullying and non-attendance of school, etc., it is important that school principals fulfill their leadership, that the entire school engages in prevention, early detection, and early response to said issues in cooperation with specialists, relevant institutions and groups, home, and community, that necessary information is shared through each school stage, and furthermore that opportunities of various experiential activities of students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools, including activities to experience social and natural contexts, are enhanced in order to foster the abilities of individuals to overcome their issues and also achieve something in cooperation with others.

○ Furthermore, physical strength is a source of human activities and it makes a strong contribution to the enhancement of spirit, such as motivation and mental toughness in addition to physical aspects, such as maintenance of good health. For this reason, it is important to increase physical strength, secure health, and enhance Shokuiku （dietary education） based on each educational stage from childhood.

Acquisition of Ability to Detect and Resolve Problems

○ In the higher education stage, it is important not only to acquire new knowledge and skills, but also to acquire the ability to practice and apply learned knowledge and skills and furthermore it is particularly important to foster abilities to engage in detection and resolution of their own problems. Through these activities, it is important to foster human resources who can create new values in society, such as creating new things and services by independently and autonomously thinking and by working together with diversified people, etc., and who can form a richer society.

○ Recently, securing the quality of university education becomes an issue while diversified students enter universities in association with increases in the enrollment rate of universities and it is necessary to make the Three Policies effective in each university and to enhance systematic and organizational education based on the Three Policies. In this case, it is necessary not only to correct classes alone, but also to engage in activities to develop systematic and organizational education activities as a university while being fully aware of exit after graduation and activities to facilitate active and independent studying of students towards detection and resolution of problems, to promote education based on conversations between teachers and students, and to establish curriculum management by visualizing outcomes of studying and the PDCA cycle.

○ In particular, it is required to give additional value on the perspective of “what students have acquired” through university education as well as to achieve accountability towards society concerning the evaluation criteria and methods used for identifying and evaluating study outcomes of individual students and for approving graduation and granting academic degrees as a university.

○ In addition, it is necessary to examine strategies towards improvement of diversity and mobility of teachers so that higher education institutions provide education depending on rapid changes in economic society and strategies towards improvement of the mobility of students to take diversified subjects in diversified higher education institutions based on necessity and to facilitate transfers between institutions, and furthermore to examine methods to study education while sharing resources held by each institution in order to use the resources of each institution effectively and to increase the quality of education effectively and efficiently.

Fostering Abilities and Attitudes Towards Social and Vocational Independence

○ Under the situation where there are drastic changes and it is difficult to foresee the future, in order to achieve social and vocational independence, it becomes more important that individuals deepen their idea of how to live and work and independently acquire the knowledge, skills, and technology necessary for their work and daily lives.

○ For this reason, it is important in each school stage from early childhood education until higher education to implement structured and systematic career education and from upper secondary school and after to enhance education for knowledge, skills, and technology required by occupation in cooperation with community and industry, to acquire basic and general abilities that become the basis of social and occupational independence in the future and new knowledge, skills, and technology through necessary learning throughout life, and thereby to foster the driving force to develop their own professional life.

○ In this case, in particular in the higher education stage, it is necessary to value the fostering of human resources required in fields growing in the future and fostering practical and creative occupational abilities in order to respond to and resolve diversified issues. In particular, enhancement of the professional vocational education system in higher education is required by using the newly created professional and vocational university / junior college system. At the same time, in the Super Smart Society （Society 5.0） that we aim to achieve in the future, it is considered that new values are created from collaboration beyond the fields of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, they become the origin of bringing wealth to people, and they will have a big impact on the desirable conditions of careers. Therefore, it is important to give higher value to these cross-field perspectives in vocational education in the future.

Increasing Educational Abilities of Home and Community, and Promotion of Cooperation and Collaboration with Schools

○ Parents have the first responsibility in education at home, and creating a home environment where children feel safe is important. At the same time, issues related to education at home are reported, such as the fact that the number of homes which feel anxiety and isolation concerning childcare and homes that have issues with fostering the sociality and independence of children and their basic lifestyle, etc. is increasing. Therefore, further efforts are required from the entire community to establish the system to support education at home. For this reason, it is important that diversified groups in the community, such as schools and human resources in the community, including persons who experienced childcare, etc., cooperate with each other to support the growth of parents and children and to establish an environment where adults and children communicate with each other to spend quality time together.

○ It is important from the perspective of fostering human resources who will lead community development to foster in children the abilities necessary for the coming period as well as attachment to and pride in the community through participation in local events, volunteer activities, and various types of involvements in the local community, to build a system of School-Community Partnerships between schools and community in order to create schools that are trusted by the community as a core of the local community, and to achieve a virtuous cycle where communities foster people and people create their community.

2. Foster diversified abilities to lead sustainable development of society

Fostering Human Resources Who Can Act Globally

○ With further progress of globalization expected, it is important to foster human resources who can act globally and have the ability to detect and resolve social issues that Japan has as well as global issues independently. In addition, it is important to foster abilities necessary for stating opinions in a foreign language without hesitation, exchanging with others, and coexisting in various situations in and outside Japan to cooperate independently with people in a different language and culture.

○ For this reason, it is necessary to strive to support upper secondary schools, universities, etc. that engage in internationalization depending on stages from elementary and secondary education until higher education and to strengthen foreign language education, including English. It is also necessary to enhance education to develop an abundant culture, the ability to think logically, have a deep understanding of the traditions and cultures of Japan, abilities to detect and resolve problems together, and have a strong spirit, etc. to overcome difficulties through communication while respecting the differences of others in the diversified cultures of the world.

○ Responding to globalization is not an issue limited to big cities, but it is important to foster human resources who have the ambition to proactively contribute to the creation and development of rich local communities with a global perspective in each community under the situation where communities are directly connected to the world.

○ It is necessary to support study abroad for Japanese students so that youths with motivation and abilities can gain opportunities to study abroad. It is also necessary to enhance opportunities to study abroad for youths by having the government broadly issue information concerning the attraction and meaning of studying abroad and various support opportunities.

○ In addition, under circumstances where the competition to acquire international human resources is intensified, it becomes more important to proactively and strategically accept excellent foreign students for the internationalization and growth of Japan. In order to attract excellent foreign students, it is necessary to promote the employment of foreign students in Japanese companies, the development of educational organizations and environments with high international compatibility of universities etc., and development of an environment to accept strategic use of scholarship loans, etc., and thereby to heighten the attraction of studying in Japan.

○ Furthermore, it is important to enhance education for growing the characteristics of diversified human resources, such as students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools who study in various overseas cultures and environments, such as Japanese schools, etc., or foreign students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools in Japan.

Fostering Human Resources Who Lead Innovation Through Graduate Education Reform, etc.

○ In graduate schools, it is important to foster human resources who can think independently and act based on a high level of professional knowledge and sense of ethics, create new knowledge, generate new values from the knowledge, and be able to act globally beyond various existing frameworks, as a leader for development of Japan.

○ In addition, looking towards society in and after 2030 as mentioned in III, it becomes more important to foster human resources who create new values through technology innovation and reforms of society and systems and who lead innovation in society.

○ Based on the aforementioned conditions, in future graduate school education, it is important to engage in conventional reforms, to foster abilities to acquire cross-sectoral knowledge beyond the frameworks of the humanities and sciences, to understand issues from a broad perspective, to use various technologies and information, and to obtain resolution.

○ In addition, at the stage of elementary and secondary education, it is necessary to provide education that fosters creativity, such as providing opportunities where students, etc. can broaden their horizons, increase motivation, and heighten their intellectual curiosity and expertise in various fields, not only at school, but also more widely in society.

○ At the stage of higher education, the position of Japan tends to decline based on the number of articles and citations of articles in research areas. Therefore, it is necessary to engage in increasing research abilities that are the basis of education and in strengthening the fostering of excellent students towards the development of highly talented human resources who can lead the sustainable growth and development of Japan and the creation of innovations.

○ Meanwhile, since career paths after obtaining a doctoral degree are unclear and employment is unstable, students tend to avoid obtaining doctoral degrees. This is a serious issue where intellectual creativity in Japan may decrease in the future and where the foundation of international competitiveness, including academic as well as science and technology innovations, may be lost. Therefore, it is necessary to urgently address the situation.

○ In addition, in order to respond to technology innovations, it is important to expand the foundation of mathematics and information education as well as implement the fostering human resources who can use cutting-edge information technology practically in the information field.

○ Furthermore, in order to respond to changes in future industrial structures and social systems, it is also important to foster human resources who can lead corrections and reforms at the worksite level and who can generate high added value services in various fields, such as STEM(*3), etc.

○ Moreover, it is necessary to conduct consistent engineering education reform based on the results of review concerning future education models in engineering faculties and graduate schools that play an important role in fostering human resources who lead technology innovations to their application in society and who facilitate industrial structure reform.

Fostering Human Resources in Various Fields, including Sports, Culture, etc.

○ In anticipation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 and thereafter, it is important to foster human resources who are responsible for the development of sports, culture, and arts in addition to fostering human resources from the perspective of the sustainable development of society by responding to technology innovations and globalization.

○ In order to find and grow excellent talent and characteristics in sports, cultures, and arts field, it is required to enhance opportunities to meet quality professionals in their childhood.

○ In addition, in order to maintain the energy of Japanese economic society and to ensure further development, it is also important to engage in cooperation with industry areas in fostering professional human resources who will lead the development of growing fields in Japan, such as tourism, agriculture, food, design, fashion, healthcare, IT and content, etc. that will usher in economic development.

3. Develop environment where people can learn and play active roles throughout life

Promotion of Lifelong Learning Towards the Period in Which People Live 100 Years

○ In a period in which people live 100 years, it is necessary to enable all people to design their lives, continue learning, and play active roles by using what they learned throughout their lives(*4).

○ In the future, it becomes essential to achieve a cycle where people can learn and use the necessary knowledge, skills, and technologies throughout their lives, to build intellectual and human networks, expand possibilities in their lives, and play active roles at new stages, and it is essential to develop environments where people can live rich lives.

○ When promoting lifelong learning, it is important to give motivation, such as creating opportunities where diversified generations, including youths and the elderly, can start learning, visualizing the outcome of learning, providing environments where people can learn and act with pleasure while connecting with colleagues, etc. In addition, as we get older, our physical strength and short-term memory abilities generally decrease; however, there is a study showing that our language abilities and ability to resolve daily problems will increase. Therefore, it is important to continue growing abilities that can improve while maintaining and increasing the physical strength and abilities that tend to decrease with age.

Promotion of Learning for the Improvement of People’s Lives and the Sustainable Development of Society

○ Under circumstances where the environment surrounding our society is rapidly changing, such as the declining birthrate and aging population, declining population, etc., future social education is expected to contribute to maintaining and revitalizing the local community, contribute to social inclusion where all citizens can participate in society as members of a local community, and provide learning opportunities corresponding to changes in society. It is considered that the importance of social education will continue to increase.

○ It is necessary to promote learning to resolve local issues to improve people’s lives and sustainable development of the society so that people can respond to various environmental changes, participate in society without being isolated but with motivation in life, while maintaining and increasing the energy of the local community. In this case, it is important to effectively use social education facilities that become the basis of learning activities and to cooperate with the schools and universities in those areas, etc. and social education facilities.

Promotion of Re-learning of Working People to Acquire the Knowledge and Skills Necessary for Work Throughout their Lifetime

○ Under the assumption of a 100-year life era cycle, it is impossible to survive only with the knowledge and skills that people acquired in their early life. In order to live a long life, it is important to create an “environment where people can learn whenever, wherever, and as many times as they want,” so that they can invest in the acquisition of knowledge and skills responding to changes in the times throughout their life.

○ In order to continue learning and implementing re-learning as mentioned above, it is necessary to achieve higher education that is open to society. The number of participants in open lectures in universities has tended to increase recently; however, the percentage of participation of working people in universities and specialized training colleges(*5) remain at approximately 10%. It is necessary for the sites providing education to change education content and methods so that they meet social needs and to develop an environment to implement learning throughout life from the perspective of those receiving the education and the side of those sending participants.

○ In addition, from the perspective of promoting continuing learning and re-learning of working people, it is necessary to provide diversified education opportunities related to professional work fields at specialized training colleges, etc. and it is important to respond promptly to the needs of society and industry, use strength to develop diversified education flexibly, and thereby to foster human resources for local industry.

○ In addition, under the situation where the industrial structure is rapidly changing, it is important to promote re-learning in order to foster human resources who are competitive in Japan and internationally, such as working people who complete a baccalaureate degree program or master's program improving their abilities additionally in graduate schools where cutting-edge study activities are conducted and acquire a doctorate degree, etc.

Promotion of Lifelong Learning of People with Disabilities

○ In consideration of the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it is important to develop environments where people with disabilities can pursue their possibilities throughout their lives and to engage in activities to support people with disabilities in the enjoyment of various opportunities, such as education, sports, culture, etc. throughout their lives so that they can live rich lives as members of the community.

○ For this reason, relevant ministries and local governments, etc. cooperate with each other to develop a consistent support system for children requiring special support in the preschool period, school-age, and employment, and to engage in activities to support the learning of people with disabilities after graduation, to promote continuous implementation of sports for people with disabilities, and to encourage their cultural and artistic activities.

4. Build safety nets for learning so that everyone can be a leader of society

Response to Economic Situation at Home and Geographical Conditions

○ Early childhood education significantly contributes to learning throughout people’s lives and to the improvement of qualifications and abilities. Therefore, all children in kindergartens and nursery schools, etc. must be able to receive a quality education and receive common opportunities. In addition, it is necessary to improve the quality of public education and to develop an environment where everyone can enter upper secondary schools, specialized training colleges, and universities regardless of their economic status at home, etc.

○ Higher education has become an infrastructure where many citizens can attend schools and acquire knowledge and skills. The enrollment rate in higher education institutions has increased to approximately 80% today. It is important to make higher education truly open so that youths with motivation and abilities can receive a quality education regardless of their economic situation at home.

○ In addition, in order for children in homes with economic difficulties to be able to acquire steady academic abilities, it is important to position schools as a platform for measures against child poverty and secure academic abilities with a school education, and to conduct comprehensive measures, such as cooperation with persons responsible from welfare-related institutions, etc. by setting schools as a contact window, continuous economic support from the preschool period until the stage of higher education, support for learning in cooperation with local residents, etc.

○ Furthermore, in order to respond to the increasing number of parents and children with difficulties, it is important to enhance learning opportunities for parents, to take tailored actions for homes that have insufficient experience in reading and activities to experience in natural contexts, etc. based on the situation of the parents and children, etc. by effectively using diversified education resources in the community. In addition, it is also important to cooperate with relevant institutions and provide support towards resolution of difficulties in their lives and support for children who are not obtaining a sufficient amount of the necessary nourishment.

Provision of Educational Opportunities Responding to Diversified Needs

○ In order to achieve a society where everyone lives a rich life and which is fair, equal, and lively, it is necessary to provide educational opportunities responding to needs from diversified perspectives, such as the existence of disabilities, the necessity of Japanese language programs, whether a student attends school or has dropped out from an upper secondary school, etc. In addition, it is required to give appropriate consideration to individual sexual orientation and the diversity of gender identification at education sites.

○ Concerning children with disabilities, it is necessary to grow their abilities to the maximum depending on their disability conditions and needs and to promote special needs education to foster the abilities necessary for independence and participation in society. At the same time, it is also important to provide appropriate instructions and support continuously, such as through the promotion of cooperation between the community and society, providing career guidance based on the diversity of individuals’ wills, etc., and it is important to engage in support for the learning of people with disabilities after graduation, promotion of continuous implementation of sports for people with disabilities, and encouraging cultural and artistic activities, etc.

○ In addition, concerning children requiring Japanese language programs, such as students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools who stayed overseas and returned to Japan, foreign students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools, whose number is estimated to increase more and more through the advancement of globalization, it is necessary to provide instruction so that they can use their learning and lived experience in other countries and at the same time they can adapt to school life in Japan.

○ Furthermore, for persons with diversified needs, such as children who have comprehensive issues in their home environment and school life or persons who desire to continue learning while rearing their children, etc., it is important to find their needs at an early stage and to continuously respond to them regardless of age group, in cooperation with relevant institutions and groups.

○ Moreover, it is required for people who, for various reasons, were not able to receive a full compulsory education that is the basis for independent life in society, to secure educational opportunities based on the current conditions of diversified learning activities regardless of age, and to engage in learning consultation and support, etc. responding to the various backgrounds of people who do not attend school or who dropped out of upper secondary schools to encourage the social independence of youths.

5. Develop foundation for implementation of educational policies

Foundation for Implementation of Educational Policies

○ In order to implement the educational policies stated in 1 through 4 of the basic policies, it is important to develop a good and quality foundation, such as the development of a school guidance system, promotion of the use of ICT, the development of safe, secure, and quality educational and research environments, higher education system reform to strengthen the foundation of education and research, the establishment of financial foundation of universities, strengthening the function of each higher education institution, the development of Japanese style education overseas, etc.

Development of Sustainable School Guidance System Towards Education in a New Period

○ School education for the next generation, including implementation of the new curriculum, depends on the ways of school personnel. It is necessary to appropriately respond to individual issues, such as responses to children with disabilities or children who have insufficient Japanese language abilities, and at the same time to develop school instruction systems, such as teaching for special subjects at elementary schools towards provision of quality education by achievement, etc. of curricula open to society.

○ Japanese teachers conduct integral instruction of subjects, student guidance, extracurricular club activities, etc. and their teaching methods are highly evaluated internationally; however, it is reported that they are overburdened. In order to heighten the abilities of individual teachers, to enable them to fulfill their expertise in a limited time, to teach classes effectively, provide class guidance, class management, student guidance, etc. by using ingenuity more than ever, it is necessary to assign roles appropriately at schools. At the same time, in order to respond to complicated and diversified issues, to ensure education quality, and to achieve education programs open to society, it is necessary to foster teachers who assume education in a new period, such as fostering abilities to address the resolution of issues in an organizational and collaboration manner by cooperating and dividing roles effectively with human resources who have diversified expertise, and to build a system to achieve a school that is a team so that issues are not handled by a single teacher, but handled in cooperation with school personnel and professionals.

○ In addition, it is important that schools, homes, and communities are responsible for the education of children from every perspective, fully show their education functions respectively, and support and foster children in cooperation with each other.

○ By setting the aforementioned development of the school guidance system as a key, it is necessary to create schools with character by making creative efforts in consideration of the perspectives of the children at each school.

○ Furthermore, in order to support teachers who continue learning throughout their entire teaching life, it is important to enhance training for teachers, such as strengthening the education and training function of practicing teachers at Professional Graduate Schools for Teacher Education, and to improve the qualification and abilities of teachers.

Promotion of Collaboration between Relevant Persons to Protect the Health and Safety of Children

○ Looking at the circumstances, etc. of various issues surrounding today’s students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools, there are many issues that cannot be handled by schools alone, such as health issues, including mental health, allergic diseases, etc., and safety issues, including natural disasters, traffic accidents, crimes, and actions in an emergency to protect citizens, etc. It is important that boards of education, departments under the direct control of the heads of the local governments, medical associations, dental associations, pharmaceutical associations, societies of school health, and the police, etc. cooperate with each other to engage in the resolution of school issues beyond the organization by using their expertise; for example, concerning school health, it is important to build a system where relevant persons can cooperate with each other and engage in activities to protect the health of students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools.

Development of Foundation for the Use of ICT

○ It is necessary to promote the proactive use of ICT in both aspects of classes and learning and school administration, such as fostering the ability to use information, creating effective classes using ICT, including promotion of the development and use of digital textbooks, and reducing the operation burden of school personnel, etc., and it is also necessary to develop the required ICT environments steadily on the assumption of securing information security, such as the development of environments where computers for learners can use the internet via Wi-Fi, acceleration of introduction and dissemination of integrated school business support systems(*6), etc. The use of ICT is also important from the perspective of providing reasonable accommodation to students with disabilities in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools. In addition, it is also important to secure information security when developing an ICT environment that can become the foundation of education and research activities at universities.

○ In order to accelerate the informatization of education, it is necessary to define the roles of national government, local governments, schools, and homes and to have them fulfill their respective responsibilities. In particular, concerning the ICT environment at schools, there are big differences between development conditions by region and school. In the future, it is required to develop the required ICT environment in consideration of various education and guidance outcomes so that classes can be provided in an environment where one computer per student is available.

○ Concerning university education, it is required to promote the use of ICT from the perspective of responding to the open education and research that is implemented globally and transmitting the knowledge of universities broadly in and outside Japan as well as the perspective of improving education quality, such as the development into active learning where students learn independently, etc.

Development of Safe, Secure, and Quality Education and Research Environments

○ School facilities are places for learning and living for students, hubs of the local community, and evacuation centers in times of disaster. Therefore, it is extremely important to ensure their safety.

○ Strengthening the earthquake resistance of national and public-school facilities is almost complete; however, deterioration has become a serious problem. Therefore, it is necessary to take actions based on the plan for both safety and function aspects. When taking countermeasures against deterioration, it is necessary to consider actions to change education content and methods. When taking countermeasures against the deterioration of facilities, such as national universities, etc. that are the foundation of science and technology innovation, it is necessary to conduct strategic renovation of facilities that contribute to reducing, etc. maintenance and management costs after renovation.

○ In addition, concerning private school facilities, strengthening earthquake resistance has been considerably delayed compared to national and public schools and early completion of strengthening earthquake resistance is an urgent issue. Furthermore, concerning private universities, etc., it is required to conduct further implementation of diversified and distinctive education and research based on the school philosophy of each university, etc. through development of education and research environments.

○ In order for students in elementary schools and lower and upper secondary schools to study under a safe and secure environment, it is necessary to promote safety education to foster the ability to protect one’s own safety, safety management, and school safety in cooperation with and in collaboration with home and community, in addition to the development of facilities. In this case, it is necessary to take measures in accordance with safety issues in recent years, such as large-scale natural disasters, traffic accidents, crimes, actions, etc. at the time of emergency, such as the protection of citizens, etc.

○ In order to achieve quality learning, it is necessary to enhance the development of educational materials and school libraries, in addition to developing the aforementioned ICT environment, etc. in school education. Furthermore, in social education, it is important to promote activities towards the provision of diversified learning opportunities depending on the actual conditions of the community and towards the enhancement of education environments, such as social education facilities, etc.

Promotion of Private Schools

○ One of the remarkable features of education in Japan is that private schools provide the fostering of diversified human resources and develop distinctive education and research based on their school philosophy and have a major role in public education. Promotion of private schools is definitively important.

○ For this reason, it is important to support private schools based on the characteristics of subsidization of private schools, and to strengthen the support and efficient allocation towards fulfillment of characteristics and enhancement in terms of the quality of private schools. In addition, it is important to implement activities to develop the education and research environments of private schools, such as development of an environment to procure donation income and other private funds independently and proactively, implementation of necessary support for an accurate analysis of management conditions and an independent managerial decision at an early stage by each incorporated educational institution under severe management environments, etc.

System Reform of Higher Education Towards Strengthening the Foundation of Education and Research

○ In a society where the population is decreasing on a full scale, in order to achieve rewarding individual lives and sustainable growth and development in Japan, it is required that basic education and research at higher education institutions fulfill more important roles as the core of fostering human resources, intellectual creative activities, and the creation of innovation by becoming the two wheels of a cart and fulfilling their functions. In addition, the role of higher education is significant from the perspective of achieving the creation of local communities. For this reason, it is necessary to re-allocate resources based on evaluations so that higher education institutions can respond to the requests of economic society and can truly fulfill the roles that they are required to play, to strengthen the roles and function of each institution, to further increase the quality of education and research, and to secure the opportunities of higher education in each community.

○ So far, concerning national universities, based on the Strategy for Strengthening Management at National Universities （June 2015）, we have conducted the acceleration of university reform by priority allocation, etc. of operational subsidies to universities that proactively engage in self-reform, the creation of a Designated National University Corporation System to operate universities in order to achieve the world’s highest level of education and research activities, and deregulation, etc. for effective use of assets held by national university corporations, etc. In addition, concerning public universities, by establishing the system for public university corporations, the deregulation of budgets, personnel, etc. and expansion of social contributions, etc. were conducted so that attractive education and research can be developed under independent and self-directive environment. Concerning private universities, it is required to engage in activities towards the fulfillment of diversified characteristics and enhancement in terms of quality through subsidies for private schools and to implement effective fund allocation for reforms, in order to conduct comprehensive review of the promotion of private universities, etc., including the promotion of reforms using each university’s characteristics through governance of incorporated educational institutions, financial foundation models, responses to situations where management is difficult, and through subsidies for private schools and in order to respond to the requests and expectations of society. It is necessary to continue implementing these reforms and activities that lead to the improvement of education and research of national, public, and private universities.

○ For higher education as a whole, it is important that each higher education institution develop education and research by fully being aware of their position and expected roles and functions, to respond to the diversified demands of learners, and in particular to enhance the following two functions: （i） making creative education and research that become the basis for the creation of new value in a more sophisticated fashion; and （ii） enhancing practical education based on the diversified requests of the community and industry.

○ In particular, in order to achieve higher education that is truly based on the missions of each institution and social needs and to maintain and improve the education functions of higher education institutions in the regions, it is necessary to examine the way of conducting fundamental structural reform for securing quality higher education opportunities in the community, including measures to promote the revision of the structures of existing faculties and departments, and education programs and measures to strengthen cooperation between higher education institutions and local government and industry.

○ In this case, it is necessary to fully consider the future size of higher education as a whole and the demands of fostering human resources by field or by industry, and to examine the way to assign roles by the providers of national, public, or private schools and the possibilities of cooperation and integration beyond the frame of providers of national, public, and private schools.

○ Furthermore, when implementing universal access to higher education, it is required to increase university functions as a place for fostering human resources throughout life by engaging in more proactive acceptance of diversified students, such as students with disabilities or working people or by engaging in the promotion of tailored consultation for students, measures for mental health, guidance for learning and employment, support for career formation that accurately corresponds to the diversified needs of students and working people, etc. more than ever.

○ In addition, it is necessary to examine comprehensively and fundamentally the way the system can improve learning quality in order to respond to changes and to achieve the creation, etc. of values, including the way to establish standards for establishment, and the way to conduct examinations for establishment, accreditation, and information disclosure. In particular, concerning the Certified Evaluation and Accreditation System, it is necessary to strengthen relationships with society concerning accreditation, streamline accreditation, and to correct cooperation, etc. with other quality assurance systems, such as evaluations of national and public university corporations, surveys on the progress of establishment plans, etc. In this case, it is important to examine them while paying attention to the internationalization of accreditation.

○ Furthermore, under severe financial conditions, each institution is required to examine the strengthening of management capabilities of universities, etc., such as securing diversified sources of income to cover labor costs and research costs and to secure their financial foundation.

○ Graduate schools play important roles in leading Japan into the future in terms of fostering human resources who can think and act independently based on advanced expertise and fostering of human resources who create new knowledge and values and can act globally. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the ideal way for graduate schools to enhance their activities.

Overseas Development of Japanese Education and Internationalization of Education in Japan

○ Recently, other countries have been highly interested in Japanese education, including elementary and secondary education aiming to foster abilities where academic abilities, richness in mind, health and physical strength are balanced, and fostering of industrial human resources that are represented by quality math and science education, colleges of technology, specialized training college, etc. Overseas development of Japanese education will encourage foreigners to visit Japan and learn directly in Japan and will encourage the building of relationships of strong trust and cooperation with other countries, promote the internationalization of education institutions in Japan, and promote educational policies in Japan. Therefore, it is important to conduct these activities proactively.

○ In addition, while the globalization of society is advancing, it is required to develop educational environments and foundations in Japan to promote international exchanges and cooperation and to promote the internationalization of education in Japan, such as strengthening exchanges of people related to education with other countries.

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 *1 Concerning qualification and ability models, many proposals were made in and outside Japan, such as discussion on key competency in the OECD, abilities to identify and resolve problems, and 21st century skills, etc. Under the new Course of Study, it stipulates fostering qualifications and abilities to be fostered based on the three pillars in consideration of accumulation of the aforementioned discussions.

 *2 In the Final Report （2016） of the Council on System Reform of Connection between Upper Secondary Schools and Universities of the “On Integrated Reforms in High School and University Education and University Entrance Examination Aimed at Realizing a High School and University Articulation System Appropriate for a New Era” （Proposal） （December 22, 2014, Central Council for Education）, it defines the following as Three Elements of Academic Abilities: （i） Sufficient knowledge and skills; （ii） Abilities, such as abilities in thinking, judgment, expression, etc., to find solutions to problems independently for which the answer cannot be defined as one, based on the aforementioned knowledge and skills; and （iii） Mindset to learn with independence that becomes the basis of the aforementioned abilities, together with diversified people.

 *3 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

 *4 According to the Public Opinion Polls on Education and Lifelong Learning （Fiscal Year 2015） （Cabinet Office）, approximately 19% of citizens attended school （university, graduate school, junior college, professional training college） after they became working people in Japan, and approximately 30% of citizens desire to learn in the future.

 *5 Referring to the percentage of working people among participants in regular courses and programs based on the learning credit system, the learning system for each subject, etc., the auditor system of universities; regular courses and subsidiary business of specialized training colleges. （The number of participants who are working people: Estimate of the number of persons at or over the age of 25 at universities （baccalaureate degree program） and junior colleges, and the number of persons at or over the age of 30 at graduate schools. It partially includes the number of persons who are employees, housewives, senior citizens people, etc. and those not working.）

 *6 A system that has integrated functions for teaching administration （treatment of academic results, attendance management, number of classes, etc.）, health （health check-up sheets, management of school nurse’s office, etc.）, school enrollment, such as student records, etc., and school administration.