This paper takes up the report issued by the Central Council for Education in 2003, suggesting revisions to the Fundamental Law of Education. Since this law had been left untouched for decades since its original postwar enactment, the debate over revisions to it developed within the framework of the conventional progressive-conservative political debate. The report suggested that the law should be reformed to take account of 60 years of social change, thereby gaining the support of the conservatives, who emphasized that the original imposition of the law did not take sufficient account of Japanese traditions. Only on the point where the report suggested that the original policy of co-education should be replaced by the concept of gender equality, which is now considered to be a more advanced way of tackling sexism, did they disagree. This point of disagreement on the part of the conservatives was entirely to be expected. Strangely enough, this section of the report is also criticized by the conservatives, who over-value the postwar concept of co-education, inaccurately interpreting it as an ageless idea that should be adopted today, and who are opposed to reform of the law on the grounds that it belittles postwar democracy and marks an initial step toward revising the Constitution in the direction of militarism. Regrettably, because the media organs have jumped on the issue within the rigid framework of political ideology, failing to analyze and deal with sequential education reform today, the level of public attention to the issue has been low.

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By verifying the latest policy trends concerned with the concept of "special zones" as applied to the education field, representing a deregulation policy initiative within the framework of Prime Minister Koizumi's structural reform plans, this paper aims to verify the essence of these trends and their policy aims. In addition, by examining such factors as the division of roles and responsibilities between schools in special zones and existing schools, the paper will also verify what kind of relationship with the current public education system has been generated by the establishment of schools in a variety of formats such as the establishment of schools by corporations having the status of Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs). The central point of the paper is to verify whether the concept of "special zones" is likely to evolve into a search for a change in the design of the public education system as a whole or whether it will remain stuck at the level of a superficial reform.

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The Constitution of 1944 and the Fundamental Law of Education provide that all the people have a right to education, and that all parts of the government should respect school autonomy and set up conditions that are sufficient to enable schools to perform their jobs. The Constitution also requires the national government to respect the autonomy of local governments. In post-war Japan, local government does not bear the cost of teachers' salaries in public-sector schools in the compulsory age range. One half of the cost has been borne by the national government and the other half by prefectural governments. This peculiar educational financial system makes a contribution to ensuring equal opportunity of education regardless of the financial power of local governments. However, the national government often restricts decision-making at the local and school level through enforcement of expenditure conditions. Consequently, it has reduced the autonomy of local government in educational administration. Although the national government now plans to decrease its share of the expenditure on compulsory education costs in the name of strengthening local autonomy, this will bring about inequalities in educational opportunity, a decrease of local government autonomy in educational administration, and an increase in the power of national government.

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In recent years, some boards of education in Japan have begun to implement a teacher evaluation system characterized by "Management by Objectives". This has resulted in the emergence of some problems that need to be solved. For example, it is necessary to set up an effective school management system, a training system for principals, and in particular a fair evaluation system for teachers and other staff members.

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The aim of this paper is to clarify the change in higher education policy in post-war Japan arising from the shift in status of Japanese national universities to independent administrative institutions. I therefore analyze data, such as policy documents, concerned with problem points in terms of trend in the higher education reform policy of the present Japanese government, and the system of national university independent administrative institutions. The paper consists of five sections. Section 1 and Section 2 discuss respectively demands for university reform from the perspective of economy and industrial policy, and requests for corrective adjustment of the system of independent administrative institutions. In Section 3 and Section 4, it is shown that the National University Corporation Law is not separate from the framework of administrative reform, and, it is shown clearly that as a result, it cannot avoid being entangled with trends in administrative reform and marketization policy following the enactment of the law. And finally Section 5, considers the view that a shift to the status of independent administrative institution leads to the loss of an independent higher education policy and brings about a serious change in higher education policy in postwar Japan.

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This report will briefly sketch the characteristics of "evidence-based education policy" which New Labour has pursued since it took office in 1997 and the changing nature of the relationship between education policy and policy research. New Labour has made efforts to "modernize" schools and the teaching force so that academic standards could be improved. The government has required schools and teachers to adopt "proven methods"; consequently, this form of education policy could be called "informed prescription". The idea that education policy should be based on the findings of research will impact on what education research should focus on and how it should be carried out. At the present time, the quality of education research tends to be judged on the criterion of "relevance to practice". Among researchers, there are some who regard the definition of "practice" used here as problematic, and citicize the relationship between educational policy and educational research, describing this kind of research as "policy-controlled research"; they warn against the stress that researchers might feel under these circumstances.

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This paper aims to examine current trends and problems concerned with research on educational policy from the standpoint of implementing the research. The first issue examined is that of problem consciousness or problem awareness as it existed at the time of establishment of the Japan Academic Society for Educational Policy. The second issue comprises current trends and problems concerned with current trends and problems concerned with policy study or policy research. The third issue comprises methods of carrying out this kind of study or research. The paper emphasises the need for research on the possibility of establishing a more open type of educational policy based on the views of individual citizens, paying special attention to the voices of children.

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Japanese education policy has fluctuated greatly over the past 10 years. At first there was an emphasis on the "yutori" approach to learning, or a more relaxed and flexible type of education. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in emphasizing improvement in academic achievement. This sort of shakiness in policy has not been limited only to education policy; rather, it reflects a significant degree of unrest with respect to the ideal role of Japanese society and the shape of the nation as a whole. Several factors set the context for these changing attitudes. Firstly, Japan experienced unprecedented long-term economic malaise and lapsed into self-doubt as a result. Secondly, the country adopted a confused, ambivalent stance toward the transition to the 21st century knowledge-based society that would accompany economic globalization and the introduction of IT into every aspect of our lives. Thirdly, Japan is questioning the extent to which it should confront changes in the Japanese social order and juvenile population, in the context of a weakening of the historically strong bonds that have contributed to cohesiveness in families and local regions at the same time as the country faces the same problems inherent in the transition to a mature society that the West has already experienced. The author places emphasis on the role of education in supporting the reproduction of human society, and points out the limits of educational reform based on an image of mankind as viewed by neoclassical economics.

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This paper sets out the following five characteristics of ongoing child welfare reforms: (a) the generalization (or: universalization; or: increase in inclusivity) of the target population of child welfare policies; (b) the change in the relationship between general child support and support for child-rearing; (c) the increase in the number of children on waiting lists for day-care centers in spite of declining birth rates; (d) the decentralization of social welfare administration; and (e) the development of reforms in the regulatory systems. The paper analyzes the ways in which child welfare reforms have been undertaken, dividing the period from 1990 to the present into four stages, during which child welfare policies have been changed rapidly in the context of linkage with policies aimed at countering declining birth rates. It also presents an overview of the backgrounds against which these policy changes have occurred as well as historical evidence of how the rights of the child have been neglected.

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This paper aims to analyze and verify the formation process of education policy in response to internationalization that took place in Japan from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. Through this process, education policy for international understanding was changed and converted from a policy that was an integral part of UNESCO activities centered on the UNESCO Associated Schools Project to a policy formulated in response to internationalization. A concrete example of the policy is the difference in terms of the perception of education for international understanding as between the 1974 report of the Central Council for Education and the 1974 UNESCO recommendations. The data used in the analysis and verification are related to the action plans and budgets of the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO in the area of education, a report of the Central Council for Educational and programmes of education for Japanese children living abroad and for returnees. The composition of this paper is as follows. Introduction 1; Education policy for international understanding as one of the policies aimed at a return to international society 2; The development of education policy for international understanding centred on UNESCO 3; The emergence of education policy formulated in response to internationalization (KOKUSAI-KA) 4; Education policy for international understanding as an integral part of education policy formulated in response to internationalization (KOKUSAI-KA) Conclusion

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify a change in ways of controlling "difference" in terms of the policy aimed at the social integration of immigrants in France. In France, the traditional policy has been one of integration based on the separation of "private" and "public" spheres: in the private sphere, liberty of conscience is respected; in the public sphere, immigrants can participate in the activities of the French Republic without reference to racial or religious attributes. However since the emergence of the "Islamic scarf" issue, this policy has been changed. The new policy is one based not on separating, but on connecting the private and public spheres. It is hoped that in this way common social activity will be more pervasive, experience in democratic organizations will be more secure and individuals will not be separated from their culture. School is a place for democratic experience. However, while the new policy regards racial or religious specificity as important, it does not signify a complete shift to multiculturalism in French policy.

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This paper aims to analyze the process whereby a partnership was formed between the government and private sector organizations, which led the popular movements in Sweden from the end of the 19th century onwards. In general, the popular movements aimed at the radical construction of a democratic society, and within the movements, adult education for their members constituted an important vehicle for their aims. More specifically, the ideas of the movements were propagated through educational programs, consequently popular adult education as carried out by the movements was regarded as excessively political and rebellious. However, popular adult education was able to get official financial support from 1912 on. On the basis of what kind of rationale and through what kind of process was this support realized? At first, officialdom conceived of the popular adult education that spread through the medium of social democratic labor movements as a source of rebellion against the dominant group in society. However, its characteristics underwent a gradual change after the development of democratization, and society as a whole gradually came to recognize its significance. The most important elements in the process of recognition were the formation of "study circles" that were able to adapt to the varied and fluid interests on the part of learners, and the relationship between government and the popular movements that was built up within a framework that allowed democratized associations to flourish.

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Through a study of the relevant Chinese laws and legal cases concerned with school accidents, this article sets out an analysis of legal responsibility for three kinds of school accidents. The analysis finds that the laws and cases tend to support the theory of fault (Prinzip der Culpahaftung) with regard to the imputation of school accidents, especially accidents caused by boys and girls. From the viewpoint of guaranteeing "the best interests of the child" and the provision of children's rights to safe education, it is necessary for China to establish as soon as possible a high-quality school safety legal system covering school equipment, school insurance and some other laws and regulations.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the present condition of school management and the significance of a school program policy, aimed at strengthening the independence and autonomy of schools in the State of Hesse in Germany. The analysis contained in the paper is based on the results of a questionnaire targeted at the principals of secondary schools in the State of Hesse. The following points are clarified in the paper. Generally speaking, as a result of strengthening a school's autonomy, on the one hand, the school becomes busier, while on the other hand, there is a greater possibility of making efficient use of the school budget. On the question of whether or not the scope for creative educational activities is broadened, opinions are roughly divided. The strengthening of a school's autonomy cannot be uncritically welcomed. Moreover, the consciousness of principals of comprehensive schools differs from that of other schools in respect of the situation brought about by the school program policy. It may be presumed that this is connected to the fact that the comprehensive school originally came into being in the context of advocating educational reform. It is precisely a unique school like a comprehensive school that can be seen as grasping the key to the success or failure of the school program policy.

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