CHAPTER , THE LONG-TERM OVERALL EDUCATIONAL PLANNING--FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT
2. Factors to Be Considered in Educational Planning
(2) Effective Distribution of Educational Investment
a. Extension of Upper Secondary Education
In view of the significance of education as an investment in
tlae socio-economic welfare of Japan, educational planning must give high, if
not highest, priority to the expansion of upper secondary education. The objective
should be to provide universal upper secondary education to all adolescent youth-the
group of from 15-17 years of age. The expanded system of various upper secondary
education should provide both the general education and the guidance and training
in specialized fields necessary to meet the socio-economic requirements of the
nation and to permit optimum development of the abilities of individual youths
in the light of their varying interests, aptitudes and stages of development.
Great flexibility must characterize the expanded and revised
upper secondary school system, not only to assure equality of educational opportunity
suited to individual and social needs but to permit adaptation to changing needs
and goals in a dynamic progressing society.