TOP > What's up around the Prime Minister > June, 2007

8th General Meeting of the Education Rebuilding Council Friday, June 1, 2007 JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the 8th general meeting of the Education Rebuilding Council at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At this meeting, the Council compiled its second report, entitled "Education Rebuilding by Society as a Whole -- A Further Step toward the Rebuilding of the Public Education System and the Reconstruction of the Basis for a 'New Era of Education.'" From the viewpoint of further advancing the pillar of the Council's first report, compiled in January -- the rebuilding of the public education system -- the latest report makes proposals with an emphasis on the following points: concrete measures to review "education with room for growth" to enhance academic abilities; reform of moral education, universities and graduate schools; and the modality of the fiscal basis for education to realize these initiatives. In his address, Prime Minister Abe said, "I am determined to make efforts to gain the understanding of the people directly concerned with the education of children, as well as the whole of the Japanese people. With their understanding we will truly be able to rebuild education with the involvement of our whole society. I would like to ask Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Bunmei Ibuki to place priority on those issues that are in particular need and take concrete measures to address them. These measures would specifically aim at the following: enabling schools to hold classes on Saturdays; designating moral education as a school subject and seeking its enhancement; realizing a teachers' wage system with a well-modulated distribution of outlays; applying flexibility to the current principle in which students enter universities only in April by establishing quotas at universities nationwide for September matriculation. I would like to ask the Minister to work hard to these ends. Furthermore, I will secure an education budget that is efficient and clearly modulated for priorities so that it can fulfill the true need of rebuilding education. As there are also challenges that have yet to be tackled, I would like to have a fruitful debate toward the compilation of our third report." Afterwards, Prime Minister received the latest report from Mr. Ryoji Noyori, the chairman of the council.