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Tuesday,
August 7, 2001 Time
Out . <! staticstart>
Children
at Higashi-Hagoromo nursery school listen
to a staff member read a
story. The city announced
administrative and financial reforms in August 2000
that include privatizing six city-run nurseries
starting from next April. The reason: to ease the
820 million yen local financial burden -- the
antithesis to the spirit Koizumi has
espoused. The news shocked parents
because the city had previously had a sound welfare
policy based on abundant tax revenues from fixed
property taxes in the coastal industrial district.
But officials say tax revenues fell by about 2
billion yen from their peak of 15.3 billion yen in
fiscal 1996. They also contend that turning
nurseries over to the private sector is a viable
way of achieving spending cuts. "In terms of managing
nurseries, private corporations can do a better
(and more efficient) job," city official Tomofumi
Oue said. Parents disagree, however,
saying the extra 820 million yen should be spent to
maintain the service. Indeed, some families even
moved to the city because of its high-quality
nursery services. "I came to live in Takaishi
seven years ago and bought a house because I
thought my children could be raised in a better
environment here," said Junko Yamamoto, whose
2-year-old son attends one of the nursery schools.
"I didn't foresee such a (privatization) plan being
implemented." For some parents,
privatization spells cost-consciousness and a
consequent decline in care standards. "The nursery service in
Takaishi is a lot better than the minimum standard
set by the central government," said Megumi
Yamashiki, who represents the parents' associations
of the six nurseries. "For example, at a 1-year-old
class, six kids have to be looked after by at least
one staffer, while one staffer cares for less than
five at Takaishi's nurseries. This means a higher
level of care by the staff, whose status is
guaranteed as city officials." The perceived evasiveness by
the city on the rationale behind the privatization
prompted the parents to petition against the plan
in December. They garnered more than 20,000
signatures out of the city's 49,490 eligible
voters. Despite this opposition by
more than 40 percent of voters, the petition was
effectively ignored by the city assembly as most of
them have no doubts over the efficiency of
private-run nurseries. The parents' busy working
schedules -- the very reason they rely on the
nursery system -- did not stop them from going one
step further in March and again collecting
signatures, this time to enact an ordinance to hold
a plebiscite on the issue. But it was much harder the
second time around because they had to meet strict
legal requirements for the petition. Still, the
parent associations secured 5,314 signatures, more
than five times what was required. Unsurprisingly,
however, the assembly rejected the petition in May
with the support of most members. Shinroku Sakaguchi, an
independent assembly member who joined five others
in voting to adopt the petition, said the assembly
does not serve its function of scrutinizing the
administration. "It is obviously financial
mismanagement by Mayor Tamezo Terada, who could
have foreseen the plunge in tax revenues a few
years back," Sakaguchi said. "Despite a cut in
welfare expenditures, a 20 billion yen
redevelopment project of the area in front of
(Nankai Electric Railway's) Takaishi Station and a
2.2 billion yen city clinic construction project
were not reviewed. "Privatization of nurseries
is only a means of shifting the mayor's
responsibility. After all, the privatization of all
six nurseries can save only 820 million yen out of
the city's 30 billion yen budget." After a bill to privatize the
Higashi-Hagoromo nursery was passed by the assembly
in June, all the parents could do was seek
assurances that conditions at the nursery would be
as good as possible. But negotiations with the
city ended in despair last week as demands on
staffing and staff age were rejected. The city said the nurseries
will be privatized gradually, but city official Oue
said no decision has been made on the number to be
privatized or the timetable. He said there is no
grand design on whether nurseries should be
predominantly private or public. "If any social changes are
observed or the privatization causes any troubles
for citizens, the privatization plan could be
reviewed," he said. Assembly member Sakaguchi
criticized city hall, saying it is not considering
children's welfare. Yamashiki and her colleagues
all complain that their antiprivatization campaign
and the subsequent negotiations with the city
merely added an extra burden to them on top of
their jobs, housework and child care. "We working mothers are in a
weak position," she said. "And child nursing is a
minor issue that most people don't pay much
attention to. We'd rather spend more time with our
kids (than campaigning against the
privatization.)" The Japan Times: Aug. 7,
2001 . <! onthetownstart>
Japan Times
Affiliations:
-
Arts & Culture
-
Life in Japan
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Privatizing
nursery schools irks Takaishi parents group
By KENZO MORIGUCHI
Staff writer
TAKAISHI, Osaka Pref. -- With Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi making vague noises on the
importance of education, this city of 62,000 people
is realizing that words alone aren't the
answer.
In recent times, Koizumi has often quoted a Meiji
Era parable in which a leader invested capital in
schools and education rather than on short-term
gratification. Residents of this city, however, are
learning that cash speaks louder than
words.
(C) All rights
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