Educational System Investigation Department - Educational System Investigation Department

...Although it is sometimes used as an abbreviation for "school system" (such as in "Gakusei Kaikakuron"), historically it is the name of the first educational system law in Japan that was aimed at nationwide implementation, which was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in several rounds from 1872 (Meiji 5) to the following year 1873. The Ministry of Education, which was established immediately after the abolition of the feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in 1871, first planned the creation of a nationwide school system as one of the basic measures aimed at the rapid realization of Japan's modernization, and in December 1871 appointed 12 "School System Investigation Officers," mainly Western scholars such as Mitsukuri Rinsho, and in January of the following year 1872, it decided on the outline, and in late March prepared a draft and submitted it to the Dajokan, which approved it in late June, and promulgated the first 109 chapters (articles) by the Ministry of Education on August 3, and subsequently promulgated a total of 213 chapters by July 1873. As the Dajokan deliberated the Ministry of Education's proposal, there was a dispute between Inoue Kaoru, Itagaki Taisuke and others who felt that major domestic reforms should not be carried out during the Iwakura Mission's visit to Europe and America, and Okuma Shigenobu, Oki Takatoshi and others who wanted the "education system" to be promulgated all at once. Even after the Dajokan's approval, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education could not reach an agreement on the amount of national subsidy for education, so the deadline was extended by two months and the proposal was promulgated with the relevant clauses missing.

*Some of the terminology used in relation to the "Educational System Investigation Division" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…〈学校制度〉の略称として用いられる場合もあるが(学制改革論など)，歴史的には，1872年(明治5)から翌73年にかけて数次にわたり文部省布達をもって公布された，日本最初の全国規模での施行をめざした教育制度法令の名称。1871年廃藩置県直後に創設された文部省は，日本の近代化の早急な実現をめざす基本的手段の一つとして，まず全国規模での学校制度の立案を計画し，71年12月箕作麟祥ら洋学者を中心とする12人の〈学制取調掛〉を任命し，翌72年1月には大綱を決め3月下旬案文をととのえて太政官に上申し，6月下旬にその決裁を得て，8月3日文部省布達をもって最初の109章(条)を公布し，以後73年7月までに全213章を公布した。太政官での文部省上申案の審議をめぐり，岩倉使節団の訪欧米中に重大な国内改革をすべきでないとする井上馨，板垣退助らと，一挙に〈学制〉の公布をめざす大隈重信，大木喬任らとの対立があり，また太政官の裁可後も教育への国庫補助金額をめぐって大蔵･文部両者の折合いがつかず，2ヵ月延長したうえ，該当条文字句を欠字のまま公布をみた。…

※「学制取調掛」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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