「英語リーディング筋トレ―これで英字新聞も怖くない！」　第14記事

情報源：The Japan Times Online 2005年11月3日

Make English mandatory for elementary pupils, Kosaka says
（小学生に英語の必須クラスを−小坂大臣発言）

By AKEMI NAKAMURA
Staff writer

Japan Timesの正式な「使用権」を得て掲載されています。

IThe new education minister believes English education should be made mandatory for elementary school students.

"English does not have to be a formal subject (at elementary schools), but I personally think it must be taught," Kenji Kosaka said Tuesday.

Kosaka, 59, a Lower House member who was picked to head up the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry in the new Cabinet formed on Monday, said English education at an early age would help Japanese cope better with the international community.

"Japan is leading the world in information technology, and many Japanese access the Internet and have opened Web sites, but such activities have not promoted international communication due to the language barrier," he said.

Elementary schools are not permitted to offer English as a formal subject because it does not fall within the government's academic guidelines for elementary education.

Nevertheless, an increasing number of elementary schools have begun offering activities using English, including English-language games and conversation lessons, during so-called comprehensive studies classes, which were introduced in 2002.

According to the ministry, 92.1 percent of 22,481 public elementary schools nationwide introduced English-language activities in fiscal 2004.

On Oct. 26, the Central Council for Education, an advisory panel to the education ministry, published a report recommending that English education at elementary schools be improved.

"English education is not meant to teach (children) grammar but to have them hear and speak the language. If (they) find pleasure in communicating in English, it will motivate them to learn more about it," said Kosaka, who lived in the United States and Europe as an employee of Japan Airlines.

The education ministry needs to have experts discuss how English should be taught to elementary schoolchildren, including how many classes they should have annually and in which grade they should start learning it, Kosaka said.

Regarding whether the central government should continue providing prefectures with subsidies to help cover teacher salaries, Kosaka said he will make efforts to find "a point of compromise" as opinions on the matter are divided.

Half of the roughly 5 trillion yen in salaries paid to about 700,000 teachers and other employees at public elementary and junior high schools nationwide comes from the central government.

But the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the central government are considering cuts in conditional subsidies from the central government as part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms of the budgetary system. The money saved would be transferred to local governments to give them greater control over spending and policymaking.

Local governments have demanded that the national government cut and transfer to prefectures 850 billion yen in subsidies currently used to cover teachers' salaries.

The Central Council for Education, however, recommended in the October report that the current subsidy system be maintained to ensure equal levels of education throughout the country.

Kosaka said the central government should take responsibility for elementary and junior high school education because compulsory education is important to nurture capable people in order to develop society.

"But I understand (Japan) needs to promote decentralization. So I would like to listen to opinions from various people and further discuss the matter," he said.