There are at least three prerequisites for enabling high school and university students to acquire the faculties of thinking, judgment and expression, which are collectively called "true scholastic ability" by the education ministry: the ability to read and comprehend Japanese and English; mathematical literacy, or the ability to think logically; and the basic scholastic ability to understand history, philosophy and natural sciences as circumstances require.

I am in full agreement with the ministry's view that acquiring the faculties of thinking, judgment and expression represents the very minimum requirement for high school and university students to fulfill.

Indeed, regardless of what professional careers students may pursue after finishing school, being fully equipped with the aforementioned three faculties, in addition to knowledge in specialized fields, is absolutely indispensable for exercising leadership in any organization.