Public schools should be allowed to hold classes on Saturdays to help students improve their academic performances, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on education reform said in its second report released Friday.
The panel also proposed making moral education a formal subject in the school curriculum to instill a sense of public service in students.
The Education Rebuilding Council, comprising 17 members from academia, business and government, met Friday in Tokyo to finalize the draft of the report, which contains a package of proposals to address education problems, including students' falling academic levels and what they see as declining morality and lack of discipline.