Government bill to revise education law goes against efforts to overcome problem of bullying: JCP Shii

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Government bill to revise education law goes against efforts to overcome problem of bullying: JCP Shii

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at an October 30 meeting of the House of Representatives Special Committee on the Fundamental Law of Education grilled Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, emphasizing that the government bill to revise the education law will only exacerbate the cause of bullying in schools and obstruct the efforts to overcome the problem.

Referring to the hotly discussed problem of student suicides being caused by bullying in schools, Shii pointed out that the revision of the law will hinder the detection of bullying and disturb concerted efforts of teachers and school staff to deal with the problem.

Shii cited the most recent student suicide cases in junior high schools and an elementary school in Fukuoka, Hokkaido, and Gifu prefectures and stressed that official reports on cases of bullying submitted by public schools across the nation do not reflect the reality.

A junior high school in Fukuoka prefecture where a student recently killed himself reported that there is no bullying in the school, despite the fact that seven to eight cases have been found yearly.

Shii pointed out that a system to evaluate schools and teachers in accordance with the number of bullying cases is widespread throughout the country. "Such a way of evaluation makes it difficult for teachers to grasp the real situation facing their students in order to deal with the problem," Shii stated.

The government bill requires public schools across the nation to achieve numerical goals, including the reduction of bullying cases, for example, by 50 percent in five years.

Shii stated, "Imposition of numerical targets by adversely revising the education law runs counter to efforts to resolve the problem of bullying."

Secondly, Shii pointed out that the considerable stress students are suffering from is a causal factor in bullying, and that excessive competition in schools is the main source of the stress.

A recent survey found that 13 percent of elementary and junior high school students have symptoms that may develop into depression, and that junior high school class students have a higher rate of the symptoms associated with depression, accounting for 30 percent in the case of third year junior high school students.

In a Tokyo ward where schools are ranked based on the result of uniform academic achievement tests, students are always exhausted due to having to prepare for the tests, Shii pointed out.

Shii strongly demanded the withdrawal of the government bill stating, "An adverse revision of the education law as well as Prime Minister Abe's 'education rebuilding plan' will divide even students at the compulsory education level into 'winners' and 'losers'. This must not be allowed."
- Akahata, October 31, 2006