No. 421.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Evarts.
United
States Legation,
Tokei, October 22, 1879.
(Received November 28.)
No. 997.]Sir: Referring to my No. 722, of date of 31st
January, 1878, in which I had the honor to inclose the report of His
Imperial Japanese Majesty’s department of education, showing the number of
schools in this empire, the number of pupils in attendance thereat, the
number of instructors employed, the amount annually expended in the support
of the schools and the amount of the surplus school fund, I now take
pleasure in further acquainting you that by a notification issued by his
excellency, the prime minister of His Majesty, certain school regulations
have been adopted and published by which the schools are open to all the
children of Japan between the ages of six and fourteen years, and by which
their education for at least four months annually for the period of four
consecutive years is made compulsory upon their parents and guardians.
I beg leave to call your attention to articles 13 and 17 of the regulations,
a copy of which, together with the notification thereof, as published in the
Japan Weekly Mail of the 18th instant, I have the honor to inclose.
It is certainly greatly to the credit of His Majesty’s Government that in
some measure the liberty to learn and to know has by law been assured to all
the children of the empire.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 997.]
(Extract from the Japan
Weekly Mail, October 18, 1879.)
educational regulations.
- Article 1. All affairs connected with
education throughout the country will be under the sole control of
the minister of education. All public and private schools, and all
public libraries, &c., will therefore be under the supervision
of the minister.
- Art. 2. Schools will be divided into
primary and high schools, colleges, normal schools, technical
schools, and others of different kinds.
- Art. 3. Primary schools are for giving
general education to children, and the subjects for study will be
the elementary parts of reading, writing, mathematics, geography,
history, moral science, &c. According to the state of the
district, drawing, music, gymnastics, &c., or the outlines of
natural philosophy and history, &c., will be added. Sewing
classes will be established for girls.
- Art. 4. High schools are for giving
general education to advanced students.
- Art. 5. Colleges are for the study of
special branches, such as law, science, medicine, literature,
&c.
- Art. 6. Normal schools are for the
instruction of teachers.
- Art. 7. Technical schools are for the
study of special branches of science or industry.
- Art. 8. Every person will be allowed to
establish any of the schools above mentioned.
- Art. 9. In all the provinces a primary
school will be established by the government in every town or
village, or in several towns or villages where the population is
small.
- Note.—But in case there should be a good
private primary school in any town or village, the government need
not establish one.
- Art. 10. Officers will be appointed to
take charge of educational affairs in towns and villages.
- Note.—The number of the officers and
their salaries will be decided according to the convenience of the
towns or villages.
- Art. 11. Such officers will be selected
by the people of the town or village to which they are
appointed.
- Art. 12. The officers will be under the
supervision of the governors of Fu or Ken, and will control all
matters connected with the education of children and the
establishment and maintenance of schools.
- Art. 13. From their sixth to fourteenth
years shall be considered the “educational age” of children.
- Art. 14. All children should receive
general education for a period of at least sixteen months during the
“educational age.”
- Art. 15. The parents, guardians,
&c., of children will be responsible for seeing that children
during their educational age receive the required
instruction.
- Note.—Those who are unavoidably
prevented from letting their children receive the required
instruction must report the reasons to the educational
officers.
- Art. 16. In the primary schools
established by the government, eight years are fixed as the period
of study, and although this period may be shortened according to the
circumstances of the locality, it must not be shortened to less than
four years, and during those four years children must receive
education annually, for a period of at least four months.
- Art. 17. Even though children do not
enter the school, if they have the means of receiving general
education otherwise, they shall be considered as having complied
with the requirements of the regulations.
- Art. 18. In those provinces where the
people are unable to provide the funds required for establishing
schools, arrangements may be made for visiting teachers, so that the
children may receive instruction.
- Art. 19. The schools will be divided
into two kinds, public and private. The schools established by means
of the local tax, or by the public funds of a town or village, will
be called public schools, and those established at the cost of
private individuals will be called private schools.
- Art. 20. The establishment or abolition
of all public schools must be with the approval of the governor of
fu or ken.
- Art. 21. The establishment or abolition
of all private schools may be done by simply reporting the fact to
the governor of fu or ken.
- Art. 22. The rules for education in
public schools must receive the approval of the minister for
education.
- Art. 23. The rules for education in
private schools must be reported to the governor of fu or
ken.
- Art. 24. The cost of maintaining public
schools which have been approved of by the fu and ken assemblies
will be defrayed out of the local tax, and the cost of maintaining
public schools established with the consent of the people of a town
or village will be defrayed out of the public funds of such town or
village.
- Art. 25. If it is necessary to grant a
subsidy out of the local tax, to the schools established and
maintained out of the public funds of a town or village, such
subsidy must be granted with the approval of the fu or ken
assemblies.
- Art. 26. No tax will be levied upon the
ground occupied by public schools.
- Art. 27. Gifts from the people for
educational purposes must not be used for any other object than
those indicated by the donor.
- Art. 28. The minister of education will
grant to every fu and ken an annual sum as a subsidy to the public
primary schools.
- Art. 29. The governors of fu and ken
will distribute the subsidy thus granted by the minister of
education to every public primary school.
- Art. 30. To those public primary schools
which were opened for less than four months in the previous year a
subsidy will not be granted.
- Art. 31. Even to private primary schools
a subsidy will be granted, if the governors of fu or ken consider
them to be useful to the people of the town or village.
- Art. 32. Such subsidy will also be
granted to the towns or villages where the system of having visiting
teachers is established, provided that the classes are open for over
four months in a year.
- Art. 33. Public normal schools may be
established in every fu or ken according to circumstances.
- Art. 34. The public normal schools will
grant, after examination, certificates of the completion of their
studies to the students of the schools.
- Art. 35. The public normal schools will
also grant such certificates, on application, to those who have not
studied in those schools, after examination, and if they are found
suitable in other respects, for the post of teachers.
- Art. 36. The minister for education may
grant a subsidy to any fu or ken, in order to perfect the
establishment and working of public normal schools.
- Art. 37. All teachers, male or female,
must be above the age of eighten years.
- Art. 38. The teachers of all public
primary schools must, as a rule, hold certificates of competency
from the normal schools.
- Note.—Persons who do not hold
certificates may be appointed if they are found to be
competent.
- Art. 39. The minister for education will
dispatch officers occasionally to fu and ken to inspect the actual
state of educational affairs there.
- Art. 40. Both public and private schools
must not object to be inspected by the officers dispatched by the
minister for education.
- Art. 41. The governors of fu and ken
will forward a report annually to the minister for education,
containing the actual state of educational affairs under their
respective control.
- Art. 42. In all schools the rooms for
teaching males and females will, as a rule, be separate.
- Note.—In the ease of primary schools the
male and female scholars need not always be separate.
- Art. 43. All schools may or may not,
according to circumstances, charge fees for teaching.
- Art. 44. Children who have not had the
small-pox or who have not been vaccinated will not be admitted into
the schools.
- Art. 45. No person suffering from
epidemic disease will be allowed to have access to the
schools.
- Art. 46. In all schools no corporal
punishment (such as striking or binding with rope) will be
allowed.
- Art. 47. On the occasion of the
examination of students, their parents, guardians &c. will be
allowed to be present.
