The education ministry has released the draft of revised curriculum guidelines for high school, which will go into full force in fiscal 2013, replacing the current guidelines that went into effect in fiscal 2003. The new guidelines have two goals: coping with the diversification of high schools and improving students' scholastic ability.
While many high school graduates enter prestigious universities, a number of others drop out. To arrest a decline in students' scholastic ability and boost their practical knowledge, the new guidelines will abolish the current mandatory electives in Japanese, mathematics and English, and establish required courses instead.
The required course in Japanese will teach students how to make presentations, speeches and engage in discussions, and will nurture interest in traditional language-related culture. Classic Japanese will become a required subject.