Staff from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology enter Doshisha University's Muromachi Campus in Kyoto on April 24 to investigate the Doshisha school corporation. (©Sankei/Yasushi Kawamura)
このページを で読む
In a fatal accident in March off Henoko in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, two boats capsized, killing two people, including a female student from Doshisha International School in Kyoto. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has filed a criminal complaint against the deceased captain, alleging that the vessel was unregistered in violation of the Marine Transportation Act.
The incident has raised concerns that poorly planned and dangerous activities may have been carried out in the name of "peace education," while disregarding the political neutrality that schools are required to uphold.
Education Ministry Finds Serious Failings
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has also released its findings from the investigation. For the first time, it stated that the school's activities violated the Basic Act on Education, which prohibits political activity in schools. It also deemed the school's safety management system "grossly inappropriate" and issued guidance to Doshisha, the school corporation that operates the high school.
Both moves are important steps toward uncovering the cause of the accident and preventing anything similar from happening again. The school, those connected to the capsized boats, and the organizations involved should take the matter seriously, reflect on their responsibility, and cooperate fully with any further investigations.
Biased Teaching
The two vessels that capsized were being operated as protest boats by the Helicopter Base Objection Association, a group opposed to the relocation of US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko.
According to the education ministry, several teachers at the school knew this but still organized the boarding program as part of what they called "peace education." Parents were not given a sufficient explanation of what the program involved. Nor was it an educational activity designed to expose students to a range of views and encourage them to think more deeply for themselves.
In that light, the ministry was right to conclude in its investigation report that the program "appears to have been handled in a way biased toward a particular view or way of thinking."
Who Bears Responsibility?
Centrist Reform Alliance leader Junya Ogawa criticized the education ministry's findings, saying it could "make schools overly cautious." But the greater problem would be allowing biased education to go unchecked.
The ministry plans to conduct a nationwide survey of extracurricular school activities to assess whether their content and safety management are appropriate.
The transport ministry's decision to file a criminal complaint reflects the gravity of the accident and the responsibility involved.
When vessels are used to transport people at another party's request, they must be registered as a "general irregular route business," even if they are not passenger ships. Operators are also required to draw up safety management rules and submit them to the government. Yet the two boats that capsized had not even been registered.
Responsibility surely does not lie with the deceased captain alone. The Japanese Communist Party is also a member of the Helicopter Base Objection Association. Its chairwoman, Tomoko Tamura, apologized, saying, "Putting high school students on a boat during a school trip was itself a serious mistake."
Now that a criminal complaint has been filed, the Japan Coast Guard should investigate the broader circumstances behind the accident and respond strictly.
RELATED:
Henoko Boat Tragedy Raises Questions Over Safety and 'Peace Education'
Author: The Sankei Shimbun
このページを で読む
