School Arson Incident

...Schools placed emphasis on the promotion of talent based on meritocracy, and strict exams were used for promotion. People who passed the exams are depicted in Mori Ogai's "Dancing Girl," and Masaoka Shiki wrote in "A Drop of Ink" that the exams were so difficult that they were only seen in dreams. Although the people wanted to learn to read and write, school arson attacks occurred all over the country due to dissatisfaction with the educational content that did not meet their demands and the excessive financial burden of building schools. In 1879, an education decree called the "Free Education Rei" was issued, which changed the compulsory and uniform nature of education and took measures to reduce the difficulties of running elementary schools in towns and villages and the burden on parents. It was also allowed for areas with limited financial resources to establish schools to have teachers travel around to teach. ...

*Some of the terms used in reference to the "School Arson Incident" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…学校では能力主義による人材登用が重視され，厳格な試験による進級の方式がとられ，その試験を突破した人間像は森鷗外の《舞姫》などに描かれ，また試験の苦しさは夢に見るほどであると正岡子規が《墨汁一滴》に記している。　民衆には読み書き能力を習得したいという要求があったものの，その要求とくい違う教育内容や学校建設にあたっての過重な経済的負担への不満から学校焼打事件が各地で起こった。79年には，自由教育令といわれる教育令が出され，強制的･画一的性格を改め，町村の小学校経営上の困難や親の負担を軽減する措置がとられ，また学校設置の資力の乏しい地方では教員巡回による教育という方式をとってもよいとされた。…

※「学校焼打事件」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。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報