Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)

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Image:Monbusho2.jpg Image:Monbusho1.jpg

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japanese: 文部科学省, Monbukagakushō), also known as MEXT, is one of the ministries of the Japanese government.

In January 2001, the former Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (文部省, Monbushō) and the former Science and Technology Agency (科学技術庁, Kagaku-Gijutsuchō) were merged and the present ministry was founded.

The ministry is led by a minister, who is a member of the Cabinet and is chosen by the Prime Minister, typically from the members of the Diet.

As of December 2005, the minister is Kenji Kosaka.

The Ministry of Education in Japan is also known as Monbusho. It is one of the most powerful and influential ministries in the government. Japanese government centralizes education and it is managed by a state bureaucracy that regulates almost every aspect of the educational process. For example, schools around the country are required to use only government-approved textbooks. Teachers must be Japanese nationals, and are screened to ensure that Japanese children are all getting a proper education.

Another important aspect of Japanese education is that while the Ministry of Education has no direct control over nursery-schools, there is still a very strong indirect influence. It was found that a higher percent of three- to six-year olds attend nursery-school in Japan than in any other industrialized nation. This could be because the nursery-schools, which are almost all privately owned, prepare the children to be good students and help them learn to function well in groups and to learn discipline like staying in line.

The above information was taken from the essay "Japanese Mothers and Obentōs" by Anne Allison.

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Romanization

The ministry sets standards for romanization.

Until the 1990s and 2000s, Kunrei-shiki romanization was widely taught in Japanese primary schools, so it was called the Monbushō system after the predecessor of MEXT.

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External links

zh:文部科學省 Template:Ministries of Japan Template:Gov-stubTemplate:Japan-stub

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