Japan Press Weekly

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2011 August 17 - 23 [EDUCATION]

6,000 teachers and parents hold study and exchange meeting

About 6,000 teachers, parents, and citizens from across Japan took part in 29 workshops on various themes, including one related to the 3.11 disaster, held between August 19 and August 21 in Chiba Prefecture, as part of annual events of the National Meeting for Educational Study.

The meeting was organized by the organization committee consisting of 27 organizations such as the All Japan Teachers and Staff Union (Zenkyo) and the New Japan Women’s Association (Shinfujin).

At the opening plenary on August 19, representing the organization committee, Shinfujin Chair Takada Kimiko said that as a result of various people’s tenacious efforts, “we marked a step forward in our demands, for example calling for a smaller class size in public schools.” “However, the government intends to cut back on programs promoting children’s educational environment, including the program to make high schools tuitions free, under the guise of securing financial resources to fund post-disaster construction work,” added Takada.

On August 20, at a workshop discussion, children ranging from elementary school to high school exchanged experiences regarding their volunteer activities in disaster-hit areas and their views on disaster reconstruction.

A girl of a private high school in Kanagawa Prefecture criticized the government for “weighing the money for disaster reconstruction against tuition-free education and financial support for private school students.” She said that she intends to launch a signature campaign at school.

On August 21, the meeting at its closing plenary adopted an appeal seeking to establish a government that places more importance on children and education.