Approving New Veterinary School

Newspapers reported a breaking news which indicated that the government of Japan would decide to approve application of Kake Gakuen to establish veterinary school. Kake Gakuen is a private educational corporation run by a close friend of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kotaro Kake, and suspected that bureaucrats who hoped to be promoted had made decision preferable to a friend of their supreme boss. Watching the sweeping victory of Abe administration in the election of House of Representatives last month, the bureaucrats gave in the powerful administration much more than criticisms among the people.

An experts’ committee of College Establishment and Educational Corporation Council, an advisory conference in Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology overwhelmingly approved the application of Kake Gakuen on Thursday. The council is an organization that discusses educational environment, including curriculum, faculty system or educational equipments. Experts such as faculties of colleges would have closed meeting for the council.

On the plan of Kake Gakuen for new veterinary school submitted in March, the committee recognized that the faculty were relatively old and capacity of students were too big in comparison with actual number of faculty. Although Kake Gakuen resubmitted the plan with reduction of student capacity and increase of faculty, the council found that the seminar curriculum was insufficient. It suspended its decision in August, when broad criticism in the public was raised with sharp accusation of the opposite parties in the Diet. Kake Gakuen submitted revised application in September.

Kake Gakuen did not stop the construction of the building for new veterinary school in Imabari City, Ehime, even in the scandal of suspected involvement of Abe, hoping to open new school next April. While Abe insisted that he had not issued any order or urged someone making preferable decision, there appeared documents in the Ministry indicating “intention of Prime Minister.”

This scandal caused constitutional argument. Based on Article 53 of the Constitution, the opposite parties requested Extraordinary Session of the Diet for discussing Kake issue this summer. Abe administration refused to accept it, being afraid of negative impact in the politics, and dissolved the House of Representatives without any discussion on it in September. Some lawmakers appeal that Constitution has to be amended to limit Prime Minister’s power for the dissolution. But, the overwhelming victory of Liberal Democratic Party swept that argument away.