On 3 February 2008
The Japan Teachers' Union (JTU) organized a special working group on "Securing Academic Competences in the Context of Educational Gaps" as part of its 57th National Conference on Educational Research.

April 9, 2008

The issues concerning how to secure academic competences for children have reemerged partly in response to the outcomes of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the OECD, which were published in December 2007. The participants in the special working group discussed the issues from a range of perspectives. Some talked about random responses to the media reporting on the PISA rankings on the part of the educational authorities. Others reported how teachers are struggling at the field level in order to secure academic competences, tailored to the circumstances of individual children, in the context of the emerging problem of growing gaps in access to education, which has resulted from the expansion and stabilization of the poor under the neo-liberal policies.

Furthermore some participants indicated the need to examine what kind of academic competences should be sought for in the global move to knowledge society. The situation of Finnish education, which has been inspiring also in this regard in different terms, was also reported. The existence of strong labour unions was indicated as one of the key factors in the realization of the present education in Finland.

	Special Working Group "Securing Academic Competences in the Context of Educational Gaps": PDF format / 12KB / A4-2pages
	Special Working Group "Children's Safety/Security with a View to Securing Academic Competences": PDF format / 16KB / A4-3pages