PRINCIPAL POLICIES OF THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT

Educational Reform

Education throughout Japan is currently experiencing a variety of problems, and Tokyo is no exception. Education is a field in which the people of Tokyo have great interest, and for which they hold high hopes. The TMG is generating new ideas for education through the reform of senior high schools and universities.

Plan to Promote Reform in Metropolitan Senior High Schools

In September 1997 the TMG Board of Education formulated the long-term Plan for Promoting Reform in Metropolitan Senior High Schools in order to respond to the current diversification of pupils and the conspicuous decrease in pupil numbers (see Figure). As a concrete plan of action, the TMG implemented reforms in metropolitan senior high schools on the basis of the 1st Implementation Plan, which was also formulated in September 1997, and the 2nd Implementation Plan, which dates from October 1999.

Since the plans were drawn up, globalization on the economic and social fronts and developments in information technology have been continuing apace. In addition, there have been a number of basic changes in the educational environment: reforms have been made in the national government's curriculum guidelines, the TMG Board of Education has revised its educational targets, high hopes are held for an integrated junior and senior high school education, and the school district system has been abolished.

In order to deal with these changes, the New Implementation Plan was drawn up in October 2002 as the summation of the plans being introduced to reform metropolitan senior high schools in line with the results of the 1st and 2nd Implementation Plans.

Basic Approach Underlying the New Plan
The New Implementation Plan is due to run from fiscal 2003 to 2006. In addition to reforms in areas such as the establishment of diverse and distinctive schools through the integration and reorganization of existing schools, introduction of management circles, and other attempts to coordinate reforms from the standpoint of school management, the basic aim is to carry out reforms in metropolitan senior high schools in order to create attractive schools in which the people of Tokyo can feel full confidence. This will be done by promoting education intended to expand the individuality and creativity of pupils, establishing links with other regions of Japan, and upgrading the conditions which teachers are expect to fulfill.

The New Implementation Plan aims to create attractive metropolitan senior high schools that enjoy the confidence of the people of Tokyo. This is to be done by means of five key policies: promoting education aimed at fostering the people in whose hands the future of Japan will lie; creating schools that are able to respond to the diverse aspirations of their pupils; establishing a system of school management that enjoys the confidence of the people of Tokyo; creating schools that enter into partnerships with their local communities; and providing the conditions for high-quality education in an age of ever fewer children.

Changes in the Number of Graduates from Metropolitan Junior High Schools (1956 to 2011)

Sources: 1) Figures for between 1955 and 2002 are taken from the "Statistical Survey Report on Public Schools,2003: Survey on Careers Pursued by Graduates of Public Schools in 2002."   2) Figures for between 2003 and 2010 are taken from "Forecast of Educational Population,2003 (Office of Education)."

University Reform

Today's big cities are experiencing rapid advances as a result of social and economic globalization as well as other emerging trends that contribute to a growing list of issues impossible to handle through conventional methods. This evolution has given rise to a demand for people rich in creativity, capable of rendering accurate assessments and judgments from broad-based perspectives in line with various conditions and situations. Furthermore, in order to fuse the fruits of research at universities with the technology perfected at companies, there is a vital need for collaboration between the industrial, academic and government sectors in strengthening industrial technology and cultivating human resources with highly developed practical skills and capabilities.

For metropolitan universities to respond to these social needs, it will be vital to clarify their roles as institutions of higher education in serving the Tokyo community, while re-emerging as schools that have great significance in the eyes of the public.

With these demands in mind, in August 2003 the TMG finalized a plan to restructure the four metropolitan universities (Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Technology, Tokyo Metropolitan University of Health Sciences, and Tokyo Metropolitan Junior College), based on a plan to open a single new comprehensive university from April 2005.

New University for Tokyo

Aims

The new university will represent Tokyo Metropolis and be devoted to the mission of pursuing the ideals of human society in a metropolitan environment. This will entail practical, local-based education and research aligned with the key concepts of: improving the urban environment; forging a highly intelligent society supported by dynamic industrial structure; and creating a society high in energy and longevity.

Education
	Academic departments organized in line with metropolitan themes (departments of urban education, urban environment, system design and health and welfare).
	The introduction of the "Credit Bank" system (tentative name) to enable students to create original curricula (including courses at other universities, experience of work and service in society and other elements), thereby cultivating their own unique career platforms.
	Introduction of hands-on, experience-based learning, treating all of Tokyo as an extended campus.
	Establishment of dormitories as venues for energetic interaction and communication, helping to cultivate individuality and creativity in students.

Administration
	The university will be a public university corporation, a kind of regional independent administrative corporation. It will incorporate private sector management knowledge and awareness, the organization of academic departments and a system for periodic review and revisions in response to the demands of the times.
	Reforms in faculty personnel encompassing a more simplified faculty organization, introduction of tenure and annual salary systems, thorough application of the merit system and other key changes.