Japan news: Dumbing down of schoolchildren?
Covert
Hi again all,
An editorial here that appeared yesterday in a Japanese newspaper
concerning a part of the "education crisis" that rarely gets reported:
the severe lack of library books available for schoolchildren in Japan.
Are Japanese public school students getting dumbed down? Read the
following article for a look at yet another aspect of contemporary
education in Japan.
Regards,
Brian Covert
(KnoK NEWS)
in Osaka, Japan
----------------------
The Japan Times - Tuesday, October 3, 2000
[Editorial:]
DON'T SHORTCHANGE YOUNG READERS
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?ed20001003a1.htm
Despite all the talk about the need for educational reforms, little
serious attention is being paid to a fundamental way in which Japan's
schoolchildren are being shortchanged. Except among the educators
directly involved, few have expressed concern over the Education
Ministry's announcement that libraries in elementary and junior high
schools nationwide are lacking the astonishing total of more than 65
million books -- books they should have if they were following the new
standards set by the ministry in 1993.
This means that, on average, each school is short 2,600 library books
that could be providing a wide range of information and knowledge to the
nation's children. The 1993 standards were intended to raise the number
of books on school library shelves by 1.5 times, on the basis of the
number of pupils enrolled. Yet fully 70 percent of the elementary schools
and 80 percent of the junior high schools acknowledged in a survey
conducted in May 1999 that they have fewer books on their shelves than
are recommended. This is so even though the Education and Home Affairs
ministries together have been allocating some 10 billion yen a year to
municipalities to help them meet the new targets.
Too many schools are failing to do so, since some 14 percent of
elementary school libraries and nearly 22 percent of junior high school
libraries have fewer than half the books they should. The reason for this
is not because enrollments are down, but because in the face of budget
shortfalls some schools are using the funds for other purposes. Local
school boards are entitled to do this, but it strongly suggests that the
invaluable role school libraries can play in supplementing textbook
education is still not sufficiently recognized or appreciated.
This is regrettable at a time when so much attention is being focused on
the global information-technology revolution in which Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori wants Japan to play a leading role. The great advantage that
good books can provide in stimulating young imaginations and encouraging
the development of natural curiosity is still minimized by an educational
system that emphasizes textbook learning above all.
School library-book shortages also stem in part from the fact that such
libraries, and indeed all libraries for the general public, are a recent
historical development here. Japan's literacy rate rose to nearly 100
percent after school attendance became compulsory in the Meiji period
(1868-1912), but the achievement was reached largely through textbooks
authorized by the Education Ministry. That suited the political and
military leaders of the time.
When the first public library in the country opened in Tokyo in 1872, a
few private schools had modest libraries, but most schools' book
collections were negligible. A greatly different situation began to
develop soon after the end of World War II. Under the guidance of
Occupation authorities, the Education Ministry issued a School Library
Handbook in 1948. Two years later, in 1950, the Japan School Library
Association was established, and this was followed by enactment of the
School Library Law in 1953, authorizing funds to support public school
libraries. Since all schools in the country now have libraries, why are
so many of them still failing to adequately provide the supplementary
resources that pupils need?
One more reason is that it is not only books that are in short supply.
Japan also suffers from a severe shortage of trained librarians. When
Education Ministry officials surveyed the schools last year, only 574
registered librarians were recorded nationwide.
The ministry is now calling on prefectural boards of education to train
and hire more school librarians. Any school with more than 12 classes
will be required to have a trained librarian on the staff from the start
of fiscal 2003. That means the hiring of some 24,000 librarians by
elementary and junior high schools around the country are needed, but the
aim is realistic only if bureaucrats and the public are made aware of the
vital role they can play.
Qualified librarians could help to stem the premature predictions being
heard in some quarters of the imminent demise of the printed book. It is
true that publishers are lamenting falling book sales and their lists are
increasingly heavy with "manga" comics for adults. It is equally true
that the Internet and other communications advances are creating new ways
for books to reach the hands of readers. None of this means that the book
is dead. A nation that does not promote reading will never be able to
take full advantage of the IT revolution. One way to ensure that books do
not disappear is to ensure that school libraries are able to fulfill
their promise.
The Japan Times: Oct. 3, 2000
(C) All rights reserved
An editorial here that appeared yesterday in a Japanese newspaper
concerning a part of the "education crisis" that rarely gets reported:
the severe lack of library books available for schoolchildren in Japan.
Are Japanese public school students getting dumbed down? Read the
following article for a look at yet another aspect of contemporary
education in Japan.
Regards,
Brian Covert
(KnoK NEWS)
in Osaka, Japan
----------------------
The Japan Times - Tuesday, October 3, 2000
[Editorial:]
DON'T SHORTCHANGE YOUNG READERS
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?ed20001003a1.htm
Despite all the talk about the need for educational reforms, little
serious attention is being paid to a fundamental way in which Japan's
schoolchildren are being shortchanged. Except among the educators
directly involved, few have expressed concern over the Education
Ministry's announcement that libraries in elementary and junior high
schools nationwide are lacking the astonishing total of more than 65
million books -- books they should have if they were following the new
standards set by the ministry in 1993.
This means that, on average, each school is short 2,600 library books
that could be providing a wide range of information and knowledge to the
nation's children. The 1993 standards were intended to raise the number
of books on school library shelves by 1.5 times, on the basis of the
number of pupils enrolled. Yet fully 70 percent of the elementary schools
and 80 percent of the junior high schools acknowledged in a survey
conducted in May 1999 that they have fewer books on their shelves than
are recommended. This is so even though the Education and Home Affairs
ministries together have been allocating some 10 billion yen a year to
municipalities to help them meet the new targets.
Too many schools are failing to do so, since some 14 percent of
elementary school libraries and nearly 22 percent of junior high school
libraries have fewer than half the books they should. The reason for this
is not because enrollments are down, but because in the face of budget
shortfalls some schools are using the funds for other purposes. Local
school boards are entitled to do this, but it strongly suggests that the
invaluable role school libraries can play in supplementing textbook
education is still not sufficiently recognized or appreciated.
This is regrettable at a time when so much attention is being focused on
the global information-technology revolution in which Prime Minister
Yoshiro Mori wants Japan to play a leading role. The great advantage that
good books can provide in stimulating young imaginations and encouraging
the development of natural curiosity is still minimized by an educational
system that emphasizes textbook learning above all.
School library-book shortages also stem in part from the fact that such
libraries, and indeed all libraries for the general public, are a recent
historical development here. Japan's literacy rate rose to nearly 100
percent after school attendance became compulsory in the Meiji period
(1868-1912), but the achievement was reached largely through textbooks
authorized by the Education Ministry. That suited the political and
military leaders of the time.
When the first public library in the country opened in Tokyo in 1872, a
few private schools had modest libraries, but most schools' book
collections were negligible. A greatly different situation began to
develop soon after the end of World War II. Under the guidance of
Occupation authorities, the Education Ministry issued a School Library
Handbook in 1948. Two years later, in 1950, the Japan School Library
Association was established, and this was followed by enactment of the
School Library Law in 1953, authorizing funds to support public school
libraries. Since all schools in the country now have libraries, why are
so many of them still failing to adequately provide the supplementary
resources that pupils need?
One more reason is that it is not only books that are in short supply.
Japan also suffers from a severe shortage of trained librarians. When
Education Ministry officials surveyed the schools last year, only 574
registered librarians were recorded nationwide.
The ministry is now calling on prefectural boards of education to train
and hire more school librarians. Any school with more than 12 classes
will be required to have a trained librarian on the staff from the start
of fiscal 2003. That means the hiring of some 24,000 librarians by
elementary and junior high schools around the country are needed, but the
aim is realistic only if bureaucrats and the public are made aware of the
vital role they can play.
Qualified librarians could help to stem the premature predictions being
heard in some quarters of the imminent demise of the printed book. It is
true that publishers are lamenting falling book sales and their lists are
increasingly heavy with "manga" comics for adults. It is equally true
that the Internet and other communications advances are creating new ways
for books to reach the hands of readers. None of this means that the book
is dead. A nation that does not promote reading will never be able to
take full advantage of the IT revolution. One way to ensure that books do
not disappear is to ensure that school libraries are able to fulfill
their promise.
The Japan Times: Oct. 3, 2000
(C) All rights reserved