On June 29, 2022, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) held the first "Meeting with the Experts on the Promotion of Children's Reading Activities" for the fiscal year 2022.

Based on the "Act on the Promotion of Children's Reading" (Act No. 154, 2001), the MEXT has formulated the "Basic Plan Concerning the Promotion of Reading Activities for Children" (hereinafter referred to as "Basic Plan") approximately once every five years.

This fiscal year marks the fifth (final) year since the current Basic Plan was formulated in April 2018. Therefore, this Meeting is positioned to continuously seek opinions from the panel of experts in various fields to prepare the next Basic Plan starting in fiscal 2023.

The panel of experts will discuss the following items:

1. Formation of reading habits in accordance with the children's developmental stages
2. Creating a chance for high school students to read
3. Best mix of reading and ICT (information and communication technology)
4. Other matters that need to be considered for the promotion of children's reading activities

Some materials for experts relate to the current status of children's reading activities. For example, one document states that 8.2% of local governments are making efforts to promote e-books and that 33.6% of them have introduced e-books "for children with special needs" as part of their efforts to promote reading.

For more information, please visit the website below.
https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/shougai/045/giji_list/mext_01163.html