Rally to defend education law held

About 700 people took part in a rally on May 22 at Chiyoda Public Hall in Tokyo in opposition to an adverse revision of the Constitution and the Fundamental Law of Education.

The event was sponsored by a wide range of researchers, cultural figures, and members of teachers' unions and citizens' organizations.

Speaking on behalf of the organizers, Kuroiwa Tetsuhiko, representative of the Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom, criticized the government for forcibly passing the wartime-related bills through the House of Representatives and trying to aversely revise the Fundamental Law of Education, which was enacted in 1947.

Tokyo University Professor Komori Yoichi called on the participants to defend the Fundamental Law of Education which prevents education from being aimed at forcing citizens to support national policy.

Referring to Article 8 of the Law, "The political knowledge necessary for intelligent citizenship shall be valued in education," a 19 year-old speaker criticized the government for prohibiting high school students from participating in political activities in disregard of the article.

A member of the Tokyo High School Student Peace Seminar reported on its activity to collect and submit to the Diet more than 20,000 signatures in support of the call for the rejection of any compulsory war cooperation and received a resounding round of applause from the audience. (end)