Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (unspecified)
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology announced that the new guidelines for middle school will be effective this month. This follows the implementation of new guidelines at the elementary level last year. The new guidelines have four major aspects. First is to increase rigor in the curriculum. This will be promoted by the second aspect of the reform: to increase weekly instructional hours by 10% in language arts, social studies, mathematics, science, physical education and foreign languages. The third aspect of reform is to place emphasis on teaching basic knowledge and skills, improve the ability to apply them, and to increase student motivation. The last aspect is to promote collaboration between schools, homes, and communities.
International Education News 
Why is it necessary that the Japanese curriculum become more rigorous? Isn’t it already rigorous enough? I understand that it is important for students to learn the core subjects when they go to school, but it is also good for students to have fun in school at times. Students will get more out of their educations if they feel a sense of accomplishment and application to their lives. School shouldn’t be all about rote memorization and drilling. It must involve hands-on learning because such a curriculum is also more engaging in the long run. Students are going to remember going to the museum for a science field trip in ten years, but they will never remember all the formulas for calculus or physics they had to memorize.