TOKYO (TR) – The training ministry has introduced an on-site investigation into the operator of a Kyoto highschool after a scholar and a ship captain died in a capsizing incident off the coast of Okinawa final month, stories NHK (Apr. 11).
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is stepping up its scrutiny of Doshisha Educational Corporation, stating that the varsity has repeatedly failed to supply adequate solutions relating to its security administration protocols and the true nature of the ill-fated “peace study” journey.
On March 16, two small vessels — the Heiwamaru and the Fukutsu — capsized off the coast of Henoko in Nago City. The accident claimed the lives of 17-year-old Tomoka Takeishi, a second-year scholar at Doshisha International High School, and 71-year-old captain Hajime Kanai. Over a dozen different college students had been violently thrown into the ocean.
The boats had been operated by the Helicopter Base Opposition Council, an activist group actively protesting the relocation of a U.S. army base to Henoko.
Despite a number of written inquiries from MEXT demanding to know why youngsters had been positioned on political protest vessels with questionable security requirements, authorities say the varsity’s responses have remained evasive and unsatisfactory.
Investigators will now instantly probe the varsity’s disaster administration manuals, the tutorial justification for using activist-operated boats, and whether or not mother and father had been correctly knowledgeable of the dangers concerned within the tour.
The tragic deaths have sparked widespread outrage over the varsity’s curriculum, with critics questioning why college students had been uncovered to hazardous circumstances on the water below the guise of volunteerism and peace training.
The activist group has since posted an apology on-line, stating they’ll dedicate themselves to “apology and atonement,” although the federal government’s scrutiny of Doshisha’s administration is simply simply starting.