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The Government Revitalization Unit demanded a review of the central government's share of costs for mandatory education at a budget-screening session Wednesday.
But the screening team of the unit, which is chaired by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, did not demand cuts in the initial budget request for fiscal 2010, which was calculated on the premise that the number of schoolteachers will be increased.
The screening team, which has been examining the necessity of ministry and agency budget requests with a view to cutting government expenditures, is in this case actually looking to increase the central government's share of the financial burden.
Yukio Edano, former chairman of the Democratic Party of Japan's Policy Research Committee who has been coordinating the screening said at the session, "The DPJ's manifesto states that the number of schoolteachers will be increased to clear the way for them to concentrate on teaching."
He surprised people at the venue by saying, "I also received instructions from Prime Minister Hatoyama to ensure a high standard of education by improving the number and quality of teachers."
The remark came as a surprise in that it indicated a reversal of the principal work of the unit.
Before Edano spoke, a budget examiner from the Finance Ministry had remarked, "Because the number of students is declining, the maximum number of teachers should naturally decrease."
There are about 700,000 teachers and administrative workers in public primary and middle schools across the nation. One-third of their salaries is financed by the central government and the remaining two-thirds paid by prefectural governments. Thus, the contribution from the state coffers is fundamental to finance mandatory education.
The Finance Ministry budget examiner's remark aimed to reduce both the maximum number of schoolteachers and the budget, but Edano stressed that budgets for educational purposes were necessary.
His remark was wholly unexpected by bureaucrats of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, who had feared budget cuts.
In addition, examiners on the screening team voiced more radical opinions. One said, "The central government is responsible for mandatory education, and thus it should shoulder 100 percent of the cost," and another said, "The central government should shoulder all of the minimum necessary amount and prefectural governments should be able to add to the budget on their own."
There has been criticism that as a result of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's three-stage fiscal and taxation reforms, local governments' financial burdens increased, and the differences in fiscal strength among local governments have caused differences in teachers' salaries.
The examiners insisted that to eliminate the gaps among prefectures, the central government's share of the burdens should be raised.
In the session, which lasted for about 90 minutes, the examiners concluded that teachers' workloads should be reduced and role-sharing between the central and local governments should be reviewed.
Though Edano did not clearly say the number of schoolteachers would rise or that the central government would shoulder a larger share of the costs, bureaucrats interpreted the result of the screening team as meaning exactly that.
The screening has been conducted with lists of projects to be examined that were submitted to the unit by the Finance Ministry.
Regarding the central government's share of the costs for education, the ministry stated in listing the costs that increasing the number of teachers was unnecessary due to natural decrease in the number of students.
The outcome was a surprise loss for the ministry budget examiner. After the session, the examiner emphasized that "We'll continue to point out problematic points."
The rare screening result reflects the high priority the DPJ has put on its manifesto pledges to emphasize education.
There also has been severe criticism of harsh decisions, including one to cut the budget for development of a next-generation supercomputer and other science and technology projects.
Even inside the government, some voiced concern that if the screening teams place too much emphasis on cost efficiency alone, the screening work itself may be opposed.
Some said such opinions affected the session on educational budgets, as criticism would have escalated if cuts had been urged in the budget for mandatory education.
Also, a member of the ruling parties said, "If the obligatory education budget was largely cut, it was possible that there could have been a backlash from the Japan Teachers Union, which is one of main supporters of the DPJ, which could adversely affect the House of Councillors election next summer."
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Tough on education, science
During the session, the screening team decided that the form and purpose of government grants for the management of state-run universities should be reviewed. These grants are used to pay lecturers and other employees' salaries and to operate facilities.
Government grants are lifelines for state-run universities, accounting for more than half their income. These grants have been cut by about 1 percent every fiscal year since April 2004, when state-run universities were converted into independent administrative corporations.
The DPJ said in its 2009 policy "index," which formed the base of its election manifesto, that it would review the policy of cutting the grants.
"This debate is difficult," Edano said at the beginning of Wednesday's session. "Many people have spoken about how hard things are as the grants have fallen by 1 percent [every year]."
However, the team's examiners expressed harsh opinions.
"Some universities run by local governments have appointed private business executives as board chairmen and succeeded in cutting costs," one said.
Another examiner said: "About 200 education ministry officials have been loaned out to state-run universities. Did making the universities independent entities mean anything?"
As a result, the screening team concluded that state-run universities need to further streamline their operations and decided to cut part of the grants for special education and research projects.
The cuts included money for the Super-Kamiokande--a facility to observe elemental particles known as neutrinos--and the Subaru Telescope.
The screening teams came to tough conclusions in reviews of science and technology projects and higher education, including a decision to effectively freeze the budget for developing a next-generation supercomputer.
People concerned have voiced strong objections. The presidents of nine universities, including Tokyo University, on Tuesday issued a joint statement about the cuts in grants to state-run universities.
"The grants should be increased significantly, as it's essential to create a rock-solid foundation for research at universities," the statement said.
According to the education ministry, government spending on higher education was equivalent to 0.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product in 2005. This was the lowest ratio among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
"We'll make efforts to streamline operations, but we can't accept further cuts in the grants if we're to maintain and advance university research," a university official said.