[MEXT] Public Comments on the Draft "Basic Plan for the Promotion of Children's Reading Activities"

On February 9, 2023, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) launched a public consultation inviting interested parties to comment on their draft of the fifth "Basic Plan for the Promotion of Children's Reading Activities."

Article 8, Paragraph 1 of the "Act Concerning the Promotion of Children's Reading Activities" (Act No. 154 of 2001) lays out the plan, which the government has formulated approximately every five years.

The "Expert Committee on the Promotion of Children's Reading Activities" has discussed six times since June 29, 2022 what should be contained in this plan.

The table of contents of the plan is as follows:

Introduction...1
Chapter 1 Status of Children's Reading Activities in Recent Years... 2
I. Current status of efforts related to children's reading activities... 2
II. Changing Circumstances Surrounding Children's Reading Activities... 2
1. Enactment of the Act to Promote the Improvement of the Reading Environment forthe Visually Impaired... 2
2. Advancement of digitization in education... 3
3. Formulation of the Sixth "Five-Year Plan for the Improvement of School Library Books"... 4
III. Current Status of Children's Reading Activities... 4
Chapter 2 Basic Policy... 6
I. Reduce the rate of non-reading... 7
II. Securing reading opportunities for diverse childre... 8
III. Improvement of the reading environment for the digital society... 9
IV. Promotion of reading activities from the viewpoint of children... 9
Chapter 3 System of Promoting Children's Reading Activities... 10
I. Efforts by municipalities... 11
II. Efforts by prefectures... 11
III. Efforts by the national government... 12
Chapter 4 Measures to Promote Children's Reading Activities... 12
I. Common items...12
1. Coordination and cooperation... 12
2. Human resource development... 15
3. Spreading awareness... 16
4. Developmentally appropriate efforts... 17
5. Efforts to increase children's interest in reading... 18
II. Family... 22
1. Role and efforts of the family... 22
2. Promotion of efforts at home... 22
III. Community... 23
1. Role of Libraries... 23
2. Efforts by libraries... 24
3. Promotion of efforts by libraries... 26
IV. Schools, etc.... 27
1. Kindergartens, nursery schools, certified child care facilities, etc.... 27
2. Elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, etc.... 28
V. Private organizations... 35
1. Role and efforts of private organizations... 35
2. Promotion of private organizations' efforts... 36

In relation to children with disabilities, "the government has established a consortium to share resources and exchange personnel at each library to make it easier for persons with disabilities to use the library and will continue to promote such efforts" that is stated in "(1) Sharing of Learning Resources in Local Communities" of section "I. Common Items," of "Chapter 4: Measures to Promote Children's Reading Activities."

Also, in "(iii) National Diet Library" of the sub-section "(3) Collaboration and cooperation according to the characteristics of related institutions," it is stated that "The National Diet Library provides a data transmission services for persons with visual impairments, in which it transmits data collected or produced via the Internet. Through this service, the National Diet Library will continue to provide accessible e-books and other materials that are easy to use for pupils and students who have difficulty reading printed materials due to visual impairments or other reasons.

Furthermore, it states that "services for children with disabilities and their parents" are the library's roles, for example, to procure and provide accessible books, e-books, and video materials with sign languages and subtitles to ensure communication and to assist users with support when using the library, and to provide reading services of library materials in the sub-section "1. Role of Libraries" in section "lll. Community," of the "Chapter 4: Measures to Promote Children's Reading Activities."

Likewise, it states, "Libraries should make efforts to procure and provide accessible books and e-books" in "(1) Ensuring reading opportunities for diverse children" under section "2. Efforts by libraries."

Public comments are due on March 1.

See below for more information:
https://public-comment.e-gov.go.jp/servlet/PcmFileDownload?seqNo=0000251489

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