On the strength of recommendations made last fall by the Central Council for Education, the education ministry is set to submit to the Diet relevant bills to legally institutionalize unified schools that encompass grades one through nine (elementary and junior high) as part of the nation's compulsory education system.
Both the national and local governments concerned should make efforts to maximize the merits and minimize the disadvantages of such schools when they are launched.
Currently such unified schools are established only as an exception to the system. The council proposes officially introducing two types of unified schools. In the first type, teachers who have licenses for both elementary and junior high school education will teach on the basis of an integrated curriculum. Each school will have just one principal and may have school buildings in the same compounds or on separate sites. In the second type, an independent elementary school and an independent junior high school will provide education using an integrated curriculum.