TOKYO —

Toshimitsu Motegi, minister in charge of administrative reform, indicated Sunday that the government-affiliated Employment and Human Resources Development Organization of Japan will effectively be dissolved and its operations, including loss-laden Vocational Museum, may be passed onto the private sector. In a Sunday morning talk show on Fuji Television, Motegi said ‘‘major surgery is necessary’’ for the Yokohama city-based organization, one of the so-called independent administrative agencies.

Motegi, who also serves as financial services minister, later told reporters that ‘‘it is impossible for the state to shoulder the functions (of the Vocational Museum in Kyoto Prefecture) as they are now.’’ He indicated that the museum and Polytechnic University in Kanagawa Prefecture for nurturing skills trainers will be dissolved and that their functions may be taken over by the private sector. Motegi also said an official decision on their dissolution ‘‘is not something that requires two or three months to consider’’ and that he will present a review plan at a government panel scheduled to meet on Sept. 3 to work out specifics. A decision on the future of the organization had been expected by the end of this year but Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda instructed Motegi on Aug. 13 to make a proposal earlier.

KYODO

4 Comments

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  some14some at 07:44 PM JST - 17th August

  ‘‘major surgery is necessary’’

  after the patient has died? Inefficient management, huge deficit and now want to pass on to 'private sector' or close down.

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  LIBERTAS at 09:07 AM JST - 18th August

  This museum was doomed from the outset. What is needed is the transformation of the educational-system so that it actually TEACHES something, and that students actually LEARN something. Couple that with a system of learning and acquiring transferable work and life skills of practical value. Never has a country spent so much time and money on sitting in programs that deliver zero residual take-away skills, abilities and know-how as Japan. A giant exercise in mutual admiration and certificate collection that has no value, practical, aesthetic or economic.

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  sk4ek at 12:13 PM JST - 18th August

  Not to mention, there are any number of other agencies, special government corporations, and pseudo-government foundations that would make equally attractive targets for "rationalization" or outright abolishment. Education and employment issues always seem to get hit first when the going gets rough, when in fact they should be the main objects of reform and increased support.

  Which is not to say that the Vocational Museum isn't a humongous albatross gulping down fistfuls of public cash for very little result.

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  Kijimuna at 11:18 AM JST - 19th August

  But who will retrain the employees?

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