Japan Press Weekly

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2011 September 14 - 20 [EDUCATION]

Osaka education board opposes governor’s intervention in schools

All six members of the Osaka Board of Education on September 16 raised opposition against political intervention in the public education system as proposed by Governor Hashimoto Toru.

Local party “Osaka Ishin-no-Kai,” led by Hashimoto, plans to submit to the prefectural assembly this month a bill to establish an ordinance to authorize the governor to impose educational targets on public schools. The bill also proposes the closure of high schools that are under-enrolled for three consecutive years as well as the publication of school league tables.

“The proposed ordinance is outrageous,” said Ritsumeikan University professor Kageyama Hideo, who became a member of the local education board with Governor Hashimoto’s strong recommendation.

Ogo Masaru (Osaka Shoin Women’s University lecturer, former junior high school teacher) is another board member strongly backed by Hashimoto. He condemned the fact that the bill requires school principals to dismiss teachers who refuse to follow the same order three times and those who receive low evaluations for two consecutive years. “Education is supported by teachers’ pride and passion. It will be destroyed if they are controlled and punished,” he warned.

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Osaka Bar Association President Nakamoto Kazuhiro on September 15 issued a statement in opposition to the proposed ordinance, describing it as “in violation of the Constitution and the law on organization and operation of local educational administration.”

The statement pointed out that to set a uniform standard to punish school teachers amounts to depriving the education board of using discretion.