Ruling parties draft a full revision of the Fundamental Education Law

The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on June 16 agreed on items to be included in a drastically revised Fundamental Law of Education. They will continue discussion with a view to submitting a bill to the next ordinary Diet session (January - June, 2005).

Amendments were proposed by a panel of the two parties to include the importance of developing "morals", "good customs", and "patriotism" as the aim of education.

They also agreed on the need to "properly" amend Article 10 of the current law that states, "Education shall not be subject to improper control, but shall be directly responsible to the whole people."

In a published statement on the same day, Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Ishii Ikuko made the following points:

The Fundamental Law of Education states that education should "aim at the full development of personality" and realization of the idea of the peace Constitution. There is no reason for it to be revised. Successive LDP governments have long ignored these principles to establish an educational structure that puts emphasis on "competition and control" unparalleled in the modern world. This is a main reason for the collapse of education and the prevalence of bullying and violence in schools. The need now is to stand firmly for the Fundamental Law as the basis of education.

The ruling parties insist that education must be aimed at developing citizens' "patriotism." However, developing "patriotism" is a matter that should be dealt with by individual citizens. To force the people to be patriotic by imposing a law is incompatible with democracy (end)