Nagoya City Board of Education's exchange of money and goods issue: Mayor ``keep an eye on investigation and verification''

At a city council meeting held on the 20th, Mayor Kawamura expressed regret about the issue in which the Nagoya City Board of Education received money and gifts from an organization formed by teachers and others along with a list of teachers to recommend to the school principal every year. He also stated that he would "keep an eye on future investigations and verifications," emphasizing his stance of proactively working to clarify the actual situation.

Nagoya City's February regular assembly was held on the 20th, and during the plenary session, Mayor Kawamura touched on the issue of the city's board of education receiving money and goods, and said, ``We are working hard to realize Nagoya, a city where not a single child will die.'' It is truly regrettable that such suspicions have been raised at a time when we are pouring our heart and soul into this matter, and we must thoroughly investigate the truth."

He added, ``The investigation and verification team will conduct an investigation to clarify the actual situation, but I believe that some children and parents have a sense of distrust in Nagoya City's educational administration. In order to answer any doubts, I will keep a close eye on the investigation and verification,'' he said, emphasizing his commitment to proactively clarifying the facts.

Former school principal: ``It was customary to give both a recommendation list and money.''

A former school principal who works at a Nagoya City school and who, as a representative of an organization formed by teachers, once handed over a personnel recommendation list and money and goods to the board of education, said in an interview with NHK, ``I gave both the recommendation list and money and goods. It was customary."

The former principal continued, ``I heard from senior members of the group that they would hand out a list and money and goods at this time of year, and the person in charge of making the list and the amount of money that would be paid out of membership fees had already been decided, so it seemed like a routine. I only serve as the head of an organization for one year, so I only gave it to the organization once, and it was a regular organization, so I didn't think anything of it."

Regarding the purpose of handing out the recommendation list, he said, ``It's not a list of people who are qualified to become principals, including their ages and years of experience as vice principals, rather than a list of people who are eligible to become principals. "Nagoya City is a very large organization, so I think people would want to know a lot of information when handling human resources."

Regarding why he gave money and items, he said, ``The first thing I wanted to do was give them encouragement.I gave them to them as a way to show my condolences to the team members because I knew that personnel considerations would be difficult, but I also gave them to them because I had already given them before. Since it's work, I thought they were probably using it for food and late-night car fare.Of course, I wasn't thinking, ``Please put it in my pocket.''

Regarding the impact on personnel, he said, ``I don't really connect with it at all. I've never felt grateful that so many people have been promoted because I gave them names and money, and I haven't even counted the number of people.'' There are some people who are on the list but have not become principals,'' he said, denying this.

Regarding the issue of giving and receiving money and goods, he said, ``For some of us, we were doing this as a matter of course, but I think there are some people who look at it and think, ``What are you doing?'' It needs to be reconsidered."

Expert: “Violates ethical regulations for public servants”

Professor Yoshi Suetomi of Nihon University's College of Letters and Science, who is an expert on educational administration, said, ``Frankly, I was surprised.It shouldn't happen that the person in charge of the Board of Education receives a list of recommendations from voluntary organizations.'' .

He then stated, ``Aside from whether or not it actually influenced the appointment of the principal, the fact that money and goods were given along with the recommendation list itself is something that is prohibited for local public servants,'' and that it violates the code of ethics for public servants. I pointed out that it was an act.

He also touched on the corruption scandal surrounding the hiring of teachers in Oita Prefecture that was discovered in 2008, and said, ``At that time, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology instructed designated cities and prefectures nationwide, including Nagoya City, to inspect their personnel administration. "If they had reconsidered and decided at that time to stop giving and receiving money and goods, this problem would not have occurred," he said, calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances.

Regarding the response required of the Board of Education, he said, ``The only way to regain the trust of citizens and children is to provide a frank explanation and clarify the situation.Mayor Kawamura and the investigation team set up by him.'' "I would like the government to conduct a thorough investigation so that we can address the concerns of citizens, parents, and children."