朝鮮学校無償化 審査再開の根拠が不明瞭だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 10, 2011)
Unclear why pro-Pyongyang schools should be free
朝鮮学校無償化　審査再開の根拠が不明瞭だ（9月9日付・読売社説）

It is an enigmatic keepsake from former Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
　不可解な「置き土産」である。

Kan told former Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Yoshiaki Takaki on Aug. 29, shortly before his resignation as prime minister, to resume screening procedures to include pro-Pyongyang high schools in the government's tuition waiver program.
　朝鮮学校への高校授業料の無償化適用について菅前首相が退任間際の先月２９日、審査手続きを再開するよう高木義明前文部科学相に指示した。

The screening procedures were suspended in the wake of North Korea's artillery shelling of a South Korean island last November. The former prime minister's administration said the situation on the Korean Peninsula was considered to have returned to conditions prior to the shelling, but we would like to ask if there are any grounds for that.
　昨年１１月の北朝鮮による韓国砲撃を受けて審査を凍結していたが、「朝鮮半島情勢が砲撃前の状態に戻った」と判断したという。だが、根拠はどこにあるのか。

It is true that talks between North and South Korean senior officials were held in July for the first time in two years and seven months. U.S.-North Korean talks also took place in the same month.
　確かに７月には、韓国と北朝鮮の高官協議が２年７か月ぶりに実現し、米朝協議も行われた。

However, the former administration did not explain in detail its assessment of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. It is still very difficult to understand why screening procedures would be resumed on what looked like last-minute instructions from the outgoing prime minister.
とはいえ、情勢判断の詳しい理由説明もなく、駆け込み指示のような審査再開は、理解に苦しむ。

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New govt should explain

In the last Diet session, Kan was grilled over suspicious donations by his political funds management organization to a civic group closely connected with a relative of a suspect in the abduction of Japanese citizens to North Korea.
　菅前首相は、日本人拉致事件の容疑者親族と関係の深い団体への献金問題が先の国会で取り上げられた。

It is a matter of course that the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which has raised concerns about Kan's abrupt instruction regarding pro-Pyongyang high schools, is demanding the new administration rescind the instruction.
今回の唐突な指示を疑問視する自民党が、指示の撤回を求めたのも当然だろう。

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and education minister Masaharu Nakagawa, however, have indicated they will carry on with the former prime minister's directive.
The two said in their inauguration speeches that Kan seemed to have made the judgment based on such factors as the resumption of talks between North and South Korea.
　野田首相や中川正春文科相は就任会見で、「南北対話などからそう判断したのでは」と述べ、菅前首相の指示を追認する姿勢だ。

However, we think the current Cabinet cannot obtain public understanding for resumption of the procedures unless it makes a clear explanation based on its own assessment.
しかし、情勢判断に関する現内閣の明確な説明がないままでは、理解は得られまい。

The screening will take two months. If they are deemed eligible for the government's tuition waiver program, 10 pro-Pyongyang high schools around the country will receive schooling assistance grants totaling at least 200 million yen from the government to compensate them for tuition.
　審査は今後２か月かけて行われる。無償化が適用されると、全国に１０校ある朝鮮学校側に授業料分として少なくとも計約２億円の「就学支援金」が支給される。

Since the screening procedures have already started, the education ministry must scrutinize whether the schools' accounts are transparent.
　審査に入った以上、文科省は朝鮮学校の経理の透明性を厳正にチェックする必要がある。

The pro-Pyongyang schools are closely linked with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), which is under North Korea's influence.
　朝鮮学校は、北朝鮮の影響下にある在日本朝鮮人総連合会（朝鮮総連）と結びつきがある。

We are afraid the grants might be used for purposes other than waiving tuition.
就学支援金が授業料以外の目的に流用されるおそれはないのだろうか。

The education ministry is said to check documents submitted to it by the schools, but if necessary, the ministry should send officials to the schools and seek direct explanations from their administrators.
　書面審査を行うというが、必要なら学校へ赴いて調査を行い、直接説明を求めるべきだ。

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Program needs review

Some observers say students at pro-Pyongyang schools may have been taught untruths about the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea and other issues.
　朝鮮学校ではこれまで、日本人拉致問題などに関して、事実と異なる教育が行われてきたのではないかとの指摘もある。

According to screening standards set by the education ministry, if problems are found in the curriculum or other elements of a school, the education minister can inform its administrator about them as points of concern.
　文科省が策定した審査基準は、教育内容などに懸念される実態があれば、文科相が学校側に「留意事項」として通知できると規定している。

If any problem is found during the screening procedures, the education minister should strongly urge school officials to improve it voluntarily.
審査で問題が見つかった場合、文科相が自主的な改善を強く促すことも求められよう。

Reviewing the government's high school tuition waiver program, which has been advocated by the Democratic Party of Japan-led governments, is also a pressing issue.
　そもそも民主党政権が掲げてきた高校無償化の見直しも、喫緊の課題である。

A joint agreement reached by the DPJ, the LDP and New Komeito includes a clause that they would discuss necessary reviews of what form the waiver program should take from next fiscal year.
　民主、自民、公明の３党合意には、来年度以降の制度の在り方について、必要な見直しを検討することが盛り込まれている。

We hope the new administration will study the effects of the program thoroughly, considering the nation's difficult fiscal condition.
厳しい財政状況の中で、政策効果を徹底検証してもらいたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 9, 2011)
（2011年9月9日01時25分 読売新聞）