Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held the fifth meeting of the Council on National Strategy and Policy for 2012 at the Prime Minister's Office.

Discussion took place on the promotion of the reform of the educational system and the nurturing of globally competitive human resources, and other matters.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "First, there was a report today on the policy for initiatives related to the fundamental reform of the educational system. Educational reform is highly important in terms of the strategic fostering of the next generation, and includes issues such as increasing the flexibility of the "6-3-3 system" through measures such as the foundation of the unified primary and lower secondary school education system, the promotion of the realignment of national universities and the ensuring of the quality of private universities, and doubling the number of globally-competitive universities. In view of today's discussion, the roadmap for the reform should be further clarified with Minister Hirano taking the lead. I would like further consideration to be made on numeric targets, the schedule and other matters.
Second, regarding the nurturing of globally competitive human resources, the attempt being made to start university enrollments in autumn instead of spring is a highly important issue. The government also would like to act in concert with this trend and take initiatives, first, to start possible measures such as increasing the flexibility of the recruitment period including the possibility of year-round recruitment. Also based on today's discussion, I would like Minister Furukawa to further work on materializing the measures and schedule for the nurturing of globally competitive human resources, including the offering of opportunities to study abroad to 110,000 students, which accounts for about 10% of the younger generations, in 2020.
Third, regarding the framework of the livelihood support policy, proper allocation of the living support allowance is indispensable for obtaining the people's confidence in the system. Support for the needy is indispensable to realize early breakaway from receiving the living support allowance. I would like the measures to be materialized swiftly with Minister Komiyama taking the lead, the mid-term compilation to be implemented by the end of this month, and the strategy to be formulated by this autumn.
Finally, I would like these efforts to be securely reflected in the Strategy for Revitalizing Japan, with Minister Furukawa working to bring the entire discussion together."