Japan's basic law on education, enacted after the end of World War II to replace the Imperial Rescript, should be reviewed -- that is a key recommendation from Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's advisory panel. The final report, released last week, calls for a set of reforms. The report is in marked contrast to September's interim report, which struck a cautionary note on the need for a revision.

The final report, as one panelist pointed out, reflects a strong desire on the part of ruling-party politicians to "update" the Fundamental Law of Education. Their immediate objective, he suggests, is to boost public confidence in the current unpopular administration and win next year's parliamentary elections. That may be part of the reason why the report lacks a detailed analysis of what the law has achieved, or has not achieved, over the past 53 years.

The fact is that the 26-member panel -- the National Commission on Educational Reform -- remains deeply divided over the nature and direction of revision. That is why the September report called for a national debate -- a veiled warning against a hasty review. Yet a final report drafted just a month later clearly stated the need for change, even though no in-depth discussions had been conducted on this issue.