(2) Rectification Items for School Management School management-related items of the Rectification Directive are as follows: (i) The management of teacher’s duties and working hours (ii) The appointment of chief teachers and selection of a suitable person (iii) The donation made from the chief teacher’s allowance (iv) The reality of conducting staff meetings (v) The circumstances of confirmation between the principal and a school branch of the Teacher Union (vi) The circumstances of measures taken by the Prefecture Board of Education concerning the management of municipal schools 23) A brief explanation on each item is mentioned below. As regards the first item of teacher’s duty and working hours, if the duties were carried out according to the service regulations prescribed by the Local Public Service Law, almost all problems would not exist in the prefecture. However, abandoning the job during school hours without permission and taking an annual vacation to carry out the activities of the Teacher Union were inexcusable. These actions violated the principle which states that the public service personnel have an obligation to devote themselves to their duties during office hours. As far as educational public service personnel are concerned, they must follow the regulations provided for in the Law for Special Regulations Concerning Educational Public Service Personnel, when they perform their duties as local public service personnel in line with their specialty or profession. Concerning the second item of the chief teacher system, the chief teachers are posted in schools as collateral for the smooth running of school management, based on a Ministerial ordinance known as the School Education Law Enforcement Regulations. However, in Hiroshima Prefecture, the chief teachers were chosen and appointed by turns from among those teachers who had neither educational leadership nor the ability to adjust and make contact with other educational personnel. The intention to trivialize the aim of chief teacher system worked well. The chief teachers are called ‘Chief (Shunin)’ or ‘Director (Bucho)’ nationwide. However, the actual condition of the system in Hiroshima Prefecture was that even the use of those words was not possible. Regarding the third item of the chief teacher’s allowance, there was a problem. The allowance given as a reward to the chief teacher in name was taken as a donation for the expenses of the Teacher Union activity, despite its opposition to the system. Although the allowance was rewarded for the labour of a teacher who took the role of the chief teacher, the teacher did not receive the award. Instead it was used for expenses of the activities of the Teachers Union, which means an improper use of the allowance for a wrong purpose. As regards the fourth item of staff meetings, the report of the Central Council for Education described the problem situations found in the prefecture as follows: (i) There are cases of staff meetings that do not demonstrate its original function due to differences in opinions and ways of thinking on school management between the principal and the teachers. (ii) Staff meetings are conducted as if it has an authority of decision-making in school, and in some cases the principal is not able to carry out his/her duty adequately. (iii) The leadership of the principal is poor. Staff meetings are formalized and the atmosphere to discuss problems concerning other grades, classes and subjects of the school as a whole is lacking. The holding of staff meetings is found inefficient. 24) The fifth item is the relationship of the principal and the Union. There were situations where the teachers isolated the principal at a corner in the school building when there was a big difference between them. Even in usual circumstances, in negotiation with the Union on the appointment of a principal, an agreement to restrict the role of the principal as the top leader was made. Hence the first problem faced by the principal was to consider how far the authority of the principal could be maintained. The negotiation also included matters concerning the status and functions of staff meetings and it was recognized that the status of staff meeting was higher than the status of the principal. The sixth item is the issue of responsibilities of the Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education and the Hiroshima City Board of Education relating to the circumstances mentioned above. Dating back to the past, the administrative organs do not have a constitution to take responsibility. However, as the prefectural schools are under the direct administration of the Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education, it is hoped that at least the Prefecture Board of Education will take the responsibility concerning the activities of the prefectural schools. However, as the instructions given by the Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education to the municipal schools came from the compromises with external pressure groups, when the educational administration intervention took place, it was found out that education in the prefecture was not properly conducted. Places where independent administration was developed by the city, town and village municipal boards of education themselves have comparatively secured a normal education order.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 10:09:50 +0000
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