The 53-year-old Fundamental Law of Education should be reviewed to determine if it meets current needs and lends itself to the formation of an educational system appropriate for the 21st century, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said in its final report released Friday.

The proposal is one of 17 suggestions the National Commission on Educational Reform outlined in the report on ways to revamp the nation's education system.

"Society has changed greatly since the time the Fundamental Law of Education was first established in (1947)," the report reckons. "The government needs to review the law while respecting the reform proposals in this final report."

Gist of education panel proposals

The final report by an advisory panel on education reform submitted Friday to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori proposes that:

*The 1947 Fundamental Law of Education be revised to meet current needs;

*All elementary and junior high school students spend two weeks performing community service, while high school students spend one month on such activities;

*The government consider asking people over 18 to volunteer for community service;

*The age limit preventing people from entering universities until they are 18 be abolished;

*Excessive competition in entrance exams be avoided by encouraging the combining of junior high and high schools;

*Professional schools such as law schools and business schools be created;

*A system rewarding effective teachers through financial or other means be introduced.

The panel also concluded that Japan needs drastic reforms to the education system to cope with school problems and must educate people who can sustain a competitive Japan in the international community.

The final report says the school system should be changed so that it nurtures originality and talent in all students by discarding the conventional idea of standardized education.

The education law states that the basic purpose of education is to make Japan a peaceful nation. It also contains clauses that mandate equal educational opportunities and compulsory education.

Since its enactment, the law has served as the basis for all educational laws and ordinances, and has never been greatly revised.

The panel said revisions should be considered in view of current issues such as environmental problems and Japan's aging society, as well as the role that culture and traditions should play in educating the nation's youth.

It added, however, that discussions should not incorporate nationalist ideas, apparently to address opponents' worries that a revision could lead to the return of ideas contained in the Imperial Rescript on Education, which the law replaced after the war.

Friday's report is the product of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's call in March for a review of postwar education and consideration of what the state needs to do for future generations.

Based on the panel's 17 proposals, the government will submit a package of bills to lay the groundwork for the reforms at the next ordinary Diet session, which begins next month.

The 26-member panel, headed by Nobel Prize for physics winner Reona (Leo) Esaki, comprised representatives from not only educational fields but also from other disciplines, including business and art.

The panel said the age requirement that prevents people from entering universities or colleges before they turn 18 should be abolished, the panel said.

Also, to train more experts to be leaders in society, various kinds of higher education institutions, such as law schools and business schools, should be established, it suggested.

To help solve serious problems such as bullying, truancy and violence among young people, the report says teachers and parents should address the issues by examining the way they are raising their children.

In school, teachers should deal with serious school violence strictly and take proper measures, the panel said.

Regarding school curriculum, the panel proposed that elementary and junior high school students spend two weeks performing community service, while high school students spend one month.

Panel members said the practice would change the conventional idea of school education, which focuses on academic achievements, and will give students opportunities to widen their views while working for others.

The report also proposes that the government consider requiring people over age 18 to take part in community service -- such as caring for the elderly -- for an unspecified period of time.

The panel had initially considered making it obligatory for 18-year-olds to take part in community service for a year, but backed down on the proposal after it faced opposition in public hearings held across Japan, the panel members said.