Japan’s National Policies on Computers in Education

Abstract

Japan’s Ministry of Education, Science and Culture prepares the Courses of Study for elementary, lower secondary, and upper secondary schools, which serve as the national guidelines for the curriculum. The first systematic provision of computer equipment to the schools began in 1983 and targeted vocational courses at the upper secondary level. Later, based upon the experiences gained from some pilot experiments that started in 1986, the Ministry began to promote the appropriate use of computers throughout elementary and secondary education. In the training of teachers on the use of computers, the local education centers for information processing have been playing a vital role. The newest Courses of Study include computer education as part of the subject Industrial Arts and Homemaking in lower secondary schools and in vocational subjects, mathematics, and science in upper secondary schools. It is also encouraged to use computers as tools for other subjects. However, the new curriculum for the lower secondary level was only implemented recently, in 1993, and the one for the upper secondary level was introduced the next year in 1994.