School corporation - gakkou hojin

It is a corporation established for the purpose of establishing private schools, and detailed provisions are found in Chapter 3 of the Private School Act (Act No. 270 of 1949).

Under the current system, schools can only be established by school corporations, in principle, other than the state and local public entities (Article 2 of the School Education Law). This is because schools are institutions that perform the important public task of educating young people, and are related not only to the happiness of individuals but also to the development of the nation and society. Therefore, school corporations must have a stable foundation and be able to fully reflect their public and educational nature in their organization and management. For this reason, school corporations must have at least five directors and two or more auditors as officers, with at least one principal among the directors to reflect the will of the educational field, and they are prohibited from being monopolized by family members. Furthermore, they are required to establish a board of trustees as an advisory body and to listen to their opinions on important matters.

In addition, educational corporations with the sole purpose of establishing vocational schools or miscellaneous schools are also recognized (Private School Law, Article 64, Clause 4), and are known as quasi-educational corporations. The rate of progression to specialized courses at vocational schools is high (20.4% in 2009, compared with 6.0% for junior colleges), so these corporations should also be watched. In the midst of the trend toward deregulation and privatization, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is taking measures to relax the school establishment requirements for educational corporations.

In relation to this, let us turn our attention to national university corporations. The National University Corporation Law was enacted in 2003, and national university corporations were established in 2004, and have been operating autonomously and proactively to create distinctive universities. The university has a president, directors (the number of directors is determined by law depending on the size of the university, and the vice president is responsible for education, students, research, international exchange, public relations, etc.), and two auditors as officers. Under these, a management council (more than half of whose members are from outside the university) and an education and research council are organized, which formulate mid-term goals and plans (6 years), strive to achieve them on a university-wide basis, and receive evaluations from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and other organizations, with the results determining the amount of operating expenses subsidies. In addition, the Local Independent Administrative Corporation Law was enacted in 2003, and public universities can be incorporated at any time after 2005. In addition, in the form of establishment of schools stipulated in Article 2 of the School Education Law mentioned above, the former falls under the category of the national government, and the latter falls under the category of local public organizations.

[Tsubura Kiyoji]

"Yamaguchi Yoshihisa, Donations and School Bonds of School Corporations," 1997 revised edition (1997, School Corporation Accounting Research Group)" ▽ "Sasaki Tsuyoshi, Knowledge-Based Society and the Challenges of Universities: Beyond the Incorporation of National Universities (2006, University of Tokyo Press)" ▽ "Private University Management," edited by the Japan Private Universities Association (2009, Toshindo)" ▽ "School Corporation Handbook," 5th edition (2009, Tax Accounting Association) by Sanefuji Hideshi" ▽ "Lectures on Private School Law by Ono Motoyuki (2009, School Accounting Research Group)" ▽ "Takahashi Hiroto, Public Universities in Japan in the 20th Century (2009, Japan Library Center)" ▽ "Suzuki Isao, ed., Article-by-Article School Education Law, 7th revised edition (2009, Gakuyo Shobo)" ▽ "Private School Law Research Group Supervised 'Private School Handbook' 14th Revised 2nd Edition (2010, Dai-Ichi Hoki)" ▽ "Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants Edited 'School Corporation Accounting Handbook' Annual Edition (Kasumi Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

私立学校の設置を目的として設立された法人であり、私立学校法（昭和24年法律第270号）第3章に詳細な規定がある。

　現行制度においては、学校を設置できるのは国と地方公共団体以外は、原則として学校法人のみに限られている（学校教育法2条）。学校は、青少年の教育という公共性の高い重要な仕事を行う機関であり、個人の幸福のみならず、国家社会の発展にかかわるものであるからである。したがって、学校法人は、安定した基盤をもつとともに、その組織・運営においても公共性、教育性を十分に反映できるものでなければならない。そこで、学校法人には、役員として理事5人以上と監事2人以上を置くが、理事のなかには校長1人以上を加えて教育現場の意思を反映させるとともに、役員が同族によって独占されることを禁じ、さらに、諮問機関として評議員会を設置して、重要事項についてはその意見を聞くことを理事長に義務づけている。

　また、専修学校ないし各種学校のみの設置を目的とした学校法人も認められ（私立学校法64条4項）、準学校法人とよばれている。専修学校専門課程への進学率は高い水準を示しており（2009年度で20.4％。ちなみに短期大学は6.0％）、この法人にも注目する必要がある。なお、規制緩和・民営化の動向のなかで、文部科学省は学校法人の学校設置要件を緩和する方策をとっている。

　関連して、国立大学法人に目を向けておく。2003年（平成15）に国立大学法人法が成立、2004年度から国立大学法人が発足し、特色ある大学づくりに向けて自主的、積極的な大学運営を進めている。役員として学長、理事（定数は大学規模により法定。副学長として教育、学生、研究、国際交流、広報等の業務を担当）、監事（2名）が置かれ、このもとに経営協議会（委員の半数以上は学外者）と教育研究評議会が組織され、中期目標・計画（6年）を策定し、全学的にその実現に努め、文部科学省等の評価を受け、その結果によって運営費交付金が左右されるようになる。また、2003年には地方独立行政法人法が制定され、公立大学は2005年度以降の任意の時期に法人化できることとなった。なお、前述の学校教育法第2条の定める学校の設置形態では、前者は国、後者は地方公共団体という範疇(はんちゅう)に入る。

［津布楽喜代治］

『山口善久著『学校法人の寄付金と学校債』平成9年改訂版（1997・学校法人経理研究会）』▽『佐々木毅著『知識基盤社会と大学の挑戦――国立大学法人化を超えて』（2006・東京大学出版会）』▽『日本私立大学連盟編『私立大学マネジメント』（2009・東信堂）』▽『実藤秀志著『学校法人ハンドブック』第5訂版（2009・税務経理協会）』▽『小野元之著『私立学校法講座』（2009・学校経理研究会）』▽『高橋寛人著『20世紀日本の公立大学』（2009・日本図書センター）』▽『鈴木勲編著『逐条学校教育法』第7次改訂版（2009・学陽書房）』▽『私学法令研究会監修『私学必携』第14次改訂第2版（2010・第一法規）』▽『日本公認会計士協会編『学校法人会計要覧』各年版（霞出版社）』

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