Education and publicness
Maybe you have heard the news that
teachers who did not sing the national anthem in a graduation ceremony was punished.
Many people seem think it natural. The ministry of government think government
need to participate in education to maintain the publicness. On the other hand some
people insist education belongs to the one area public power should not intervene.
That is to say they say we should introduce market principle in area of
education and that public power should not control education and intervene the
inner world of a person. At first I want to consider about problem of both
side‘s problem. And then I consider about the solution.
The ministry of education think the subject of
public power who enforces public education can decide the contents and ways of
education and insists it is quite natural public power can influence the inner
matters about education. Probably people who graduated from Japanese high
school know the trial on the contents of text books. Ministry of education made
IENAGA revise the text book he wrote many times. In this trial Judge decided
this official approval was legal. It means judge rationalized the government
intervention in contents of education. But law prescribe that government must
be neutral in people’s thought and belief and area on freedom of mind. From
this trial we can know government decide criterion of neutral.
If
we introduce market principle in education, we may have to pay more money and
compete more fiercely. Of course it has good aspects. We can get a choice as
consumers. But this liberalization of education weak the public foundation of
society and make a human isolated. People who think that education is private
should know children is not parents’ but social being and they grow in society.
If we regard education as product and rich people should receive good quality
education, we will think good education is expensive and ordinary people
receive low education. But we should not forget we study to grow and the knowledge
we got is common property and social culture.
We need consider “New publicness”.
Why education should be public? Role of
education is to guarantee the right to study something which human has to learn
to be a human and the essential knowledge to live in the times. From this point
of view, education is essentially public. When we study, things we study should
be true. In this sense truth is not someone’s but everyone’s, public. It is
beneficial to receive education, nurture their ability, and enjoy the chance. When
we think of public education, it does not involve education in private school. Public
means each one act voluntary and participate. Whether it is public or private,
this publicness is important in education. Education is not products but
public. Getting it is beneficial and enrich things public. We need recognize
the importance of fulfilling responsibility for society from nurturing their
ability and returning their property to society. To make new publicness,
compassion and sense of justice are essential because publicness is to make collaborative thing by unifying the
individual’s freedom. Compassion and sense of justice are important start to
mediate between individual and society, private thing and public thing.
Preference KYOIKU WO HIRAKU
