Complementary Intergovernmental Relations in Educational Administration

This chapter will provide historical clarification on how the Japanese education system developed complementary relationships among different levels of government administration, namely, the Ministry of Education, prefectural boards of education, and municipal boards of education. In the process of modernization, the financial vulnerability of municipalities made it difficult to provide homogeneous compulsory education, even though it was expected. To improve this situation, the central government attempted to establish a subsidy system, and the prefectures conducted inspections to provide guidance and advice to teachers. In other words, an “interfusion-type” of intergovernmental relationship was needed to implement universal compulsory education. During the occupation, the GHQ intended educational reform to replace the education system that had been based on an interfused type of intergovernmental relationships with one based on separated type relationships. However, Japanese policymakers sought to maintain a complementary relationship by adding a Japanese interpretation of the American school board system. After the end of the occupation, various reforms were undertaken to standardize education under the division of roles and cooperative responsibilities between governments. As a result of these reforms, educational disparities based on geographical and socioeconomic factors were gradually eliminated as globally high standards of academic performance emerged. In recent years, however, this system has come under pressure to reform. Resistance within the education system is expected to impede fundamental reforms. Nevertheless, partial dysfunction can be confirmed by the presence of educational disparities, and overcoming these issues has become a significant challenge.