(Redirected from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)
Office building of MEXT
The , also known as 'MEXT', is one of the ministries of the
Japanese government.
The
Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871.
[1]
was one of the most powerful and influential ministries in the government. Japanese government centralizes
education and it is managed by a state bureaucracy that regulates almost every aspect of the educational process. For example, schools around the country are required to use only government-approved textbooks. Teachers must be Japanese nationals, and are screened to ensure that Japanese children are all getting a proper education.
In January
2001, the former ''Monbusho'' and the former merged into the present MEXT.
MEXT is led by a
minister, who is a member of the
Cabinet and is chosen by the
Prime Minister, typically from the members of the
Diet. On September 26
2006, Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe selected
Bunmei Ibuki for this position.
MEXT is one of three ministries which runs the
JET Programme.
MEXT offers a prestigious Japanese scholarship, the
Monbukagakusho Scholarship, also known as the MEXT or Monbusho scholarship.
Romanization
The ministry sets standards for
romanization. Until the
1990s and
2000s,
Kunrei-shiki romanization was widely taught in Japanese primary schools, so it was called the ''Monbushō'' system after the predecessor of MEXT.
Notes
1. Reischauer, Edwin O. and Jansen, Marius B. (2005), ''The Japanese Today'', p.187, Tuttle Publishing: Tokyo.
External links
★
MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Official website, in English)
★
MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Official website, in Japanese)
★
Press release on Legislation of "the National University Corporation Law"