英字新聞

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 19
EDITORIAL: Do not impose government’s viewpoints on school textbooks
（社説）教科書検定　押しつけは時代遅れだ

School textbooks are not tools for the government to indoctrinate young people with its views and opinions.
　教科書は、時の政権の言い分を教え込む道具ではない。

The education ministry on March 18 announced the results of its screening of new high school textbooks to be used from spring next year.
　来年春から高校で使う教科書の検定結果が発表された。

This year, the ministry applied, for the first time, new rules about the authorization of textbooks to those used at high schools.
　文部科学省は、新しいルールを高校に初めて適用した。

Besides changing the guidelines for editing textbooks, the ministry also revised its screening standards to require publishers to ensure descriptions on issues about which the government has announced an official position reflect that view.
　教科書編集の指針を変え、検定基準も政府見解があれば、それに基づいて記すよう改めた。

These changes were made in response to demands from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
自民党の意向に沿ったものだ。

The outcome of the screening of high school textbooks reminds us of what happened last year, when new textbooks for junior high schools underwent the process.
　今回も、昨年の中学の検定と同じようなことが起きた。

The ministry instructed the publishers to describe Japan’s territorial disputes with its neighbors in line with the government’s position. In one case, an article in a textbook about war reparations had to be rewritten after the ministry criticized the text for failing to reflect the government’s stance on compensation for wartime forced laborers from China.
　領土問題で、日本政府の立場を記すよう意見をつけた。戦後補償のコラムには、政府見解に基づいて書くよう指摘した。

Notably, the ministry demanded that the descriptions on controversial topics, such as the Self-Defense Forces, the Constitution and nuclear power generation, be in line with the positions of the Abe administration.
　目立ったのは、自衛隊や憲法、原発など賛否の分かれる問題で、安倍政権の姿勢に沿う記述を求めたことだ。

The ministry, for instance, took issue with one textbook’s description about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “proactive pacifism.” The original text described Abe's foreign policy principle as one that has "changed the government's interpretation of the Constitution" and provides for "the SDF to operate in wider areas."
　例えば「現代社会」で、積極的平和主義の記述がある。原本には「憲法解釈を変更し」「広範な地域で自衛隊の活動を認めようという考え方」とあった。

The ministry contended that the passage could cause a misunderstanding. Since proactive pacifism is a doctrine, the ministry said, the goal it is designed to achieve should also be mentioned.
　ここに「誤解するおそれがある」と意見がついた。「主義」なので、もとになる目的を書くように、というのだ。

Consequently, the text was revised to say that the doctrine is intended to enable Japan to “make active contribution to ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in international society” by changing the interpretation of the Constitution with regard to the SDF’s activities.
　その結果、自衛隊活動をめぐる憲法解釈の変更により、「国際社会の平和と安定および繁栄の確保に、積極的に寄与していこうとするもの」となった。

Acquiring knowledge about the government’s official positions on various issues is not harmful for students. But treating the government’s views as the right answer to think about these issues is tantamount to imposing specific opinions on young people.
　政府の立場を知ることは悪いことではない。ただ、それを唯一の正解として扱うのは押しつけだろう。

The administration’s approach to textbook screening is more and more coming to resemble the prewar system of government-designated textbooks.
戦前の国定教科書に近づいていないか。

The government overestimates the influence of textbooks on young people’s thinking, in the first place.
　国はそもそも教科書の影響力を大きく考えすぎている。

Textbooks are not the only sources of knowledge for children. By visiting a library, for instance, they can easily find written works presenting different opinions and viewpoints from those of the government.
　子どもは教科書だけで学んでいるのではない。図書館で調べれば、反対の見方や違った視点の本を知ることができる。

The education ministry is now working on new official curriculum guidelines.
　文科省は、次の学習指導要領の議論を進めている。

It is planning to create new subjects, including a comprehensive study of modern world history and civics education about the rights and obligations of citizens and voters.
These subjects will be aimed at helping students develop the ability to think about things from diverse viewpoints and angles, according to the ministry.
　高校で「歴史総合」「公共」（ともに仮称）などの科目をつくり、多面的、多角的に考える力を育てようというのだ。

Textbooks for these subjects should be designed to show that the government’s views and opinions are relative to the standpoints of various players, including opposition parties, citizens and other countries.
　こうした科目では、政権の見方、考え方を相対化し、野党や市民、他国など様々な立場を伝える教科書が求められよう。

It is questionable whether the current textbook screening system will be suitable for the goals of the new subjects.
　いまのままの検定の姿勢で、果たして対応できるだろうか。

The current system is based on the assumption that textbooks are traditional printed books.
　現在の検定制度は、紙の教科書を前提にしている。

But an increasing number of textbooks show the addresses of websites that offer good reference materials.
　だが、参考になるサイトのアドレスを書く教科書が増えてきた。

The ministry checks the content in these websites during its textbook screening, but the pages of a website are updated constantly. It is impossible for the government to keep track of all changes in the content of the websites mentioned in textbooks.
検定でもその内容を確認しているが、ページの内容はどんどん変わる。国が中身を吟味し切れるものではない。

The current textbook screening system, which tends to nitpick over specific terms and phrases in the text, is already outdated.
　教科書の一言一句に目くじらを立てる検定は、もはや時代遅れではないか。

The government should shift its education policy to allow a wider range of teaching materials, expand the discretion of teachers in how to teach classes and increase opportunities for children to think from diverse viewpoints. The government should start taking steps to reinvent the textbook screening system in line with these principles.
幅広い教材を認め、教師の指導の裁量を広げ、子どもが多角的に考える機会を増やす。検定も、その方向に踏み出してもらいたい。