The report was written during the US's post WWII occupation of Japan. The document discusses how to reform Japan's education system to become more like the west's.
Approximately eighty-five percent of Japanese children terminate their formal education [after elementary school] (page 34)
This statement surprised me. I could see how an agrarian society in the 1800's might only see 15% of people with post-elementary education, but Japan in the 1940's? That feels like way too little to run an empire. Admittedly, you don't need to learn literature to be a foot soldier, but what about... the rest of society?
There are some really juicy quotes in this report about language education. Apparently the 1950's were still the linguistic dark ages.
The Japanese language in its written form constitutes a formidable obstacle to learning. Practically all informed persons agree that the memorizing of Kanji, in which the Japanese language is largely written, places an excessive burden on the pupils. During the elementary years they are required to give a very great part of their study time to the sheer tasks of learning to recognize and to write the language characters. During these initial years, time that might be devoted to the acquisition of a vast range of useful linguistic and numerical skills, of essential knowledge about the world of physical nature and human society, is consumed in a struggle to master these characters.
This was written before Kanji Reform, so there may be some merit in saying that learning kanji was difficult, but this is very much hyperbole. Modern Japanese students have no problem learning the several thousand kanji necessary for life. I don't think teachers in modern day Japan would think that kanji is a burden that prevents learning in other subjects.
The need for linguistic reform has long been recognized in Japan. ... Broadly speaking, three proposals for the reform of the written language are under discussion: the first calls for a reduction in the number of Kanji; the second for the complete abandonment of Kanji and the adoption of some form of Kana; and the third for the complete abandonment of both Kanji and Kana and the adoption of some form of Rokaji [sic]
A choice among these proposals is not easy. But in view of the facts of history, education, and language analysis, the Mission believes that in time Kanji should be wholly abandoned in the popular written language and that a phonetic system should be adopted.
That certain aesthetic and other values residing in the Kanji can never be fully conveyed by a phonetic system is readily granted. But the common people, if they are to be well informed and fully articulate in both domestic and foreign affairs, must be given a more simple medium of reading and writing.
Abandoning Chinese Characters had been a public discussion for over 50 years at this point in history. I wonder what caused people to change their mind? Preservation of culture? Difficulty in switching to complete Kana / Romaji? Did people try to switch and found that it didn't have benefits?
We recommend that there be established for the next three years beyond the primary school, a "lower secondary school" for all boys and girls, providing fundamentally the same type of curriculum for all with such adjustments as are necessary to meet individual needs. ... Beyond the "lower secondary schools," we recommend the establishment of a three year "upper secondary school," free from tuition fees and open to all who desire to attend.
Huh, so that's where the 3 years of middle school and 3 years of high school comes from.
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