PART Recent Trends and Developments in Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture
Chapter 9. Internationalization of Education, Culture and Sports
6 Enrichment of Educational Programs for Japanese Children Staying Overseas, as well as Those Who Have Returned Home after Long Stays Overseas
Along with the expansion of international activities of Japanese
people, the number of Japanese people staying abroad for a long period is rapidly
increasing. Approximately 51,000 Japanese children of compulsory school age were
staying abroad in 1991. More than 12,COO Japanese children of elementary and
secondary school age returned to Japan during the period from April 1989 through
March 1990.The enrichment of educational programs for these two groups of children,
i.e., those who are staying abroad and those who have returned from extended
stays abroad, has become an important task for the Government. The Government
undertakes this with the aim of providing the former group of children with educational
programs to help them develop as both Japanese citizens and world citizens living
in the international community, and with the aim of providing the latter group
with appropriate educational opportunities to enable them to make the best use
of their own qualities acquired during their stay overseas.
In order to promote educational programs for Japanese children
staying overseas, the Ministry has taken a number of measures, including the
sending of teachers to Japanese schools overseas, both full-time and part-time,
and the providing of free textbooks to all Japanese children of compulsory school
age who are staying abroad. From 1990, the Ministry began to place in each Japanese
school overseas a director in charge of school activities for international exchange
with local people. This director will contribute to the promotion of education
for international understanding at the Japanese school which he or she serves,
and also to the development of more activities for educational, cultural and
sports exchanges between children enrolled in the school and people in the community
where they are living. In the same year, a new system was created by which all
candidates for teachers serving Japanese schools overseas are duly registered
and given adequate training in Japan before their appointment. The Ministry also
started a study for developing an information system whereby Japanese schools
Overseas can be connected on line (through microcomputer communications) with
various organs within Japan which provide these schools with relevant educational
information. Further, in order to promote educational programs for children who
have returned from overseas (including the children of Japanese orphans who have
come back to Japan from China), the Ministry has taken various measures, including
the creation of special classes for these children at some schools attached to
national universities, the designation of a small number of pilot schools for
conducting studies on the content and methods of teaching these children, and
the designation of a small number of localities which are to devote much effort
to accepting and taking care of these children.