Government advisory panel proposes revising education law in order to foster 'patriotism'

The Central Education Council, an advisory board to the education minister, on November 14 submitted a report to the minister proposing that the Fundamental Law of Education be revised so that education is aimed at raising "indomitable" Japanese citizens.

The report said that in order for Japan to win the global competition, children need to have strong ambitions to make their dreams come true and a love for their nation and country.

The report criticized the present education system for being too uniform as a result of placing too much emphasis on equality.

The report appreciates the idea of the Fundamental Law of Education which calls for human dignity and character building as the major aim of education, and yet it argues that the law should be revised because education must comply with national policy.

Akahata on November 15 said that the report is aimed at changing the educational target into that of producing people who will be able to work in line with the national strategy to win the international economic competition.

Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives Member Ishii Ikuko in her statement issued on the day said that the report argues that education must help people foster a love for the nation, but this is a matter of each person's view and judgment and forcing all people to do so by law is anachronistic.

She said that Liberal Democratic Party governments are responsible for the current crisis in education and that the move of the government and the LDP to enforce an adverse revision of the education law coincides with their intention to adversely revise the Constitution.

The All Japan Teachers and Staff Union (Zenkyo) in the statement on the day criticized the report for changing the objective of education into becoming a winner in the cutthroat international competition and calling for moral education based on nationalism. (end)