In preparation for adopting a five-day school week in 2003, an advisory council to the education minister submitted a midterm report Monday urging fewer mandatory classes in the fundamental subjects to create additional room for general studies that foster humanity, creativity, originality and international awareness.
In its report, the Curriculum Council urges a reduction in classroom hours spent on mandatory subjects in secondary schools and instead urges more emphasis on studies such as foreign languages, social welfare and the environment.
Pointing out that the current curriculum is insufficient in cultivating original research skills and self-expression, the council recommended that educational emphasis be shifted from cramming students with large amounts of knowledge to developing intellectual curiosity, creativity and originality. "We consider the theme (of this report) to be the transfer from passive to active education, from Japanese to international education and from knowledge to knowing education," Shumon Miura, chairman of the advisory panel, said after submitting the report to Education Minister Nobutaka Machimura.