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5th Meeting of the Education Rebuilding Council Wednesday, January 24, 2007 JAPANESE

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the 5th general meeting of the Education Rebuilding Council at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At the meeting, Prime Minister Abe received the Council's first report, entitled Education Rebuilding by Society as a Whole -- the First Step toward Rebuilding Public Education. The report presents seven recommendations and four urgent response measures. The seven recommendations include reform of school curricula such as the review of "education with room to grow"; improvement in teacher quality; reform of the educational system to review the role that boards of education should be playing; and commitment to children's education by society as a whole. The four urgent response measures are aimed at the issues of bullying; the introduction of a teaching license renewal system; fundamental reform of the board of education system; and the revision of the Course of Study. In his address Prime Minister Abe said, "Rebuilding education is not only the top priority task for my Cabinet, but also the most important task for Japan of today and the future. Now is the time to take responsibility and engage in education rebuilding. I promise to involve the entire Cabinet in striving to achieve the recommendations and measures compiled in this first report. As for issues that require urgent response, and the bullying issues in particular, we will immediately determine what can be done under the existing laws, seek more effective use of the out-of-school suspension system and review the reporting system. Regarding existing legislation, we will submit bills during the upcoming ordinary Diet session to amend three laws (the Law for Certification of Educational Personnel; the Law Concerning the Organization and Operation of Local Education Administration; and the School Education Law). I would thereby like to demonstrate our strong resolve to lose no time in the rebuilding of education." After the meeting, Prime Minister Abe held talks with Mr. Ryoji Noyori, the Chairman of the Education Rebuilding Council, an occasion coordinated by Ms. Eriko Yamatani, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister.