竹富町の教科書 単独採択の容認は禍根を残す

The Yomiuri Shimbun 7:38 pm, May 27, 2014
Approval for Taketomi town to become independent school district problematic
竹富町の教科書　単独採択の容認は禍根を残す

The latest move in the Okinawa Prefecture school textbook case may become a bad precedent, we are afraid.
　教科書採択の悪あしき前例にならないか。

The Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education has approved the secession of the town board of education in Taketomi from the textbook selection council of the Yaeyama district—comprising the city of Ishigaki and the towns of Taketomi and Yonaguni—in the prefecture.
　沖縄県教育委員会が、石垣市、竹富町、与那国町による八重山採択地区から、竹富町の離脱を認めることを決めた。

The Taketomi Board of Education has been using a textbook of its own choice in public schools for more than two years, in violation of the law on the free provision of school textbooks, which stipulates that a joint textbook adoption district—comprising more than one municipality—must adopt the same textbook throughout.
　竹富町教委は、共同採択地区内で同一の教科書を採択するという教科書無償措置法に違反し、２年以上、独自に採択した教科書を使用している。

The Taketomi Board of Education did not comply with a demand for corrective action that the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry made in March based on the Local Government Law.
３月に文部科学省から地方自治法に基づく是正要求を受けたのに、従わなかった。

As the prefectural board of education has approved the Taketomi Board of Education’s establishment of an independent educational district, the Taketomi board will be able to adopt textbooks of its own choice beginning next fiscal year. We cannot help but feel doubtful about the latest development, as it seems to have caved in to the hard line taken by the town board.
　県教委が竹富町を独立した採択地区と認めたことで、竹富町教委は来年度以降に使用する教科書について、単独での採択が可能になった。ごね得とも言える展開には疑問を禁じ得ない。

We must remember that the current state of unlawfulness will remain until the end of this fiscal year. This development is quite problematic from the viewpoint of legal compliance.
　忘れてはならないのは、今年度いっぱいは、違法状態が続くことだ。法令順守の観点から、極めて問題がある。

Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura said the ministry would not file a lawsuit against the Taketomi town government to formally establish the illegality of the town board’s actions.
　下村文科相は、竹富町を相手とした違法確認訴訟は起こさない方針を表明した。

He has reportedly concluded that even if the education ministry wins the suit and has the town board change the textbook for use at public schools, it would only cause confusion in classrooms in the middle of an academic year. But this does not mean Shimomura approves of the current state of illegality.
これは、勝訴しても年度途中で使用教科書を変えると、学校現場が混乱しかねないと懸念したためだ。現在の違法状態を容認したわけではない。

The prefectural board of education carries a grave responsibility for allowing the confusion to drag on.
　混乱を長引かせた県教委の責任は、重大である。

Dispute over textbooks

In the summer of 2011, the textbook selection council of the Yaeyama district chose a civic studies textbook published by Ikuhosha Publishing Inc. for use in middle schools. The council selected the textbook because it contains a full description of territorial issues.
　八重山地区の採択地区協議会が中学校の公民教科書に育鵬社版を選んだのは、２０１１年夏だった。領土に関する記述が充実しているといった理由からだ。

Despite the council’s selection, however, the Taketomi Board of Education unilaterally decided to use a textbook published by Tokyo Shoseki Co.
　これに対し、竹富町教委のみが東京書籍版を採択した。

The prefectural board of education has not taken steps to have the Taketomi Board of Education take corrective action. Even when the education ministry instructed the prefectural board of education last October to demand the Taketomi Board of Education conform, the prefectural board did nothing.
　県教委は竹富町教委に、適切な働きかけをしていない。文科省が県教委に対して昨年１０月、竹富町教委への是正要求を指示した際も、動かなかった。

The joint textbook adoption system allows small local municipalities with limited personnel to cooperate with each other in selecting school textbooks. Joint textbook adoption districts comprise local municipalities that share the same sense of unity geographically and culturally.
　そもそも共同採択制度は、人員に限りのある小規模自治体が協力して教科書を選ぶ仕組みだ。地理的、文化的な一体性を持つ市町村が共同採択地区を形成する。

The law on the free provision of school textbooks was revised in April as some cases emerged in which the demarcation of the joint textbook adoption district would no longer correspond to the distribution of local communities and their livelihoods due to mergers of cities, towns and villages in recent years.
　近年の市町村合併で、採択地区の線引きが現状に合わない例も出てきたため、４月に教科書無償措置法が改正された。

The revision changed the description of administrative units of joint textbook adoption districts from “cities and counties” to “cities, towns and villages,” allowing textbooks to be selected by educational districts that combine towns and villages more flexibly.
採択地区の設定単位を「市郡」から「市町村」に変え、柔軟な組み合わせができるようにしたのが特徴だ。

The Taketomi Board of Education, apparently by distorting the meaning of the legal revision to its own advantage, demanded that it could break away from the educational district. Yet the ties among municipalities within the Yaeyama district remain strong. There are no special circumstances surrounding the district due to the recent merger of municipalities. The secession of the Taketomi Board of Education was not made in line with the purport of the law revision.
　竹富町教委はこれを逆手に取って離脱を要望した。しかし、八重山地区の結びつきは今も強い。市町村合併といった事情は見当たらない。竹富町の離脱は、法改正の趣旨を踏まえたものではない。

It is only reasonable that the boards of education of Ishigaki and Yonaguni have called for leaving the current framework in place.
　石垣市と与那国町が現行の枠組みの維持を求めたのは当然だ。

It is regrettable that such a natural procedure as the board of education selecting a textbook in compliance with laws and ordinances has been ignored.
　法令を守って、教科書を採択する。当たり前のことがないがしろにされたのは、残念である。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 27, 2014)