 Citizens and lawmakers had meeting to stop revision of basic law of educationIn a move to block the adverse revision of the Fundamental Law of Education", about 100 citizens and lawmakers from the Japanese Communist Party, Social Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party of Japan held a meeting in the Diet Building on August 3. The meeting was called by the National Liaison Council to Foil Revision of the Fundamental Law of Education, which was set up by university professors and other persons. The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties published an interim report in June on a draft revision to the Fundamental Law of Education. Also in June, a task force committee composed of LDP and DPJ lawmakers drafted a new Fundamental Law of Education. A participant pointed out that the ruling parties' interim report deleted provisions from the law stipulating that education shall not be subject to improper control. "The ruling parties are attempting to rewrite the law in order to allow the government and administrative bodies to control school education", he warned. Also, the report and draft were criticized for gutting the law's principle of "equal opportunity of education" for the public. Being thrown into a competition-driven education with controls tightened, students under the new law, if enacted, will have to compete with each other under a surging 'patriotism', a reporter said. (end) |