Educational administration enforcement measures

Education is the foundation for human life. We will promote education for sustainable development (ESD) that fosters the creators of a sustainable society by taking advantage of Niseko's unique environment, including initiatives such as the SDGs Future City and Eco-Model City, so that everyone from children to adults can receive a high-quality education and deepen their learning throughout their lives, leading to the realization of a sustainable society (SDGs).

Aiming to create a town where children's smiles shine, we will comprehensively promote child-rearing support measures based on the 3rd Niseko Town Children and Child-rearing Support Project Plan.
At the local child-rearing support center, in addition to providing a place for interaction and learning for parents and children in pre-school, consultation and support regarding child-rearing, temporary child-care and holiday child-care will be implemented to improve the child-rearing environment.
For school-age children, we will provide after-school childcare programs at the Niseko Children's Center and after-school childcare facilities to provide a safe and secure place for them to go after school and to play and live according to their developmental stage, in order to promote the healthy development of children. We will also install additional air conditioning at the Children's Center to improve the childcare environment.
We will also expand our Family Support Center operations, which provide mutual assistance in child-rearing, and will work to establish childcare centers using vacant facilities and increase the number of supporters, as well as examining the feasibility of providing childcare for sick children.
Furthermore, we will promote town development that nurtures children throughout the community, utilizing local power, such as by running childcare services by NPOs during long holidays, promoting the creation of playgrounds and spaces for children, and supporting other initiatives by private organizations.

Infancy is an important time for cultivating the foundations for lifelong personality development. It is important to provide a place where children can live in safety, support their growth and development, and provide high-quality early childhood education. For this reason, Yoji Centre, which handles both early childhood education and childcare, strives to provide education and childcare that fosters basic lifestyle habits and develops rich minds and healthy bodies through play and life in nature. In addition, we deepen our involvement with the local community through various activities such as reading picture books in cooperation with families and English time led by assistant language teachers and international exchange officers, and we value the image we would like children to have by the end of their early childhood years. We strive to further enrich early childhood education and childcare by promoting smooth transition to elementary school learning, and cooperation and exchange with junior high schools, high schools, and universities.
In addition, in order to improve convenience for users and reduce the workload of childcare workers, we will install permanent Wi-Fi in Yoji Centre and promote digitalization, such as expanding childcare support systems, while also working to secure human resources to resolve labor shortages.
We will continue to prepare for the implementation method and system design of Niseko Town version of the "Any Child Can Attend School" system, which is scheduled to be implemented in all municipalities from fiscal year 2026.
 

In order to ensure that children live healthy lives, we work with families to promote the development of basic lifestyle habits, and by utilizing the results of nationwide surveys on physical fitness, athletic ability, and exercise habits, we strive to enhance physical fitness activities at Yoji Centre and schools and to help establish exercise habits.

Regarding school lunches, in order to ensure safe, secure, and stable operations, in addition to thorough hygiene management, we will carry out appropriate maintenance, inspection, and repair of cooking machines and equipment, and proceed with systematic renewal of cooking machines and other equipment.
In addition, we will strive to provide students with exposure to a variety of foods by utilizing local, Hokkaido, and domestic ingredients, and we will promote nutritional education through school lunches to foster interest in desirable eating habits and food culture, as well as health through food.
Regarding food allergies, we will continue to work with parents, students, and schools to provide individual support as before.
In addition, with regard to school lunch fees, we have previously kept the unit price of school lunches constant and have exempted school lunch fees for the second child and beyond.However, in fiscal 2025, we will be utilizing the national "Temporary Regional Revitalization Grant for Priority Support in Responding to Price Rise" to make school lunch fees free for parents of children attending elementary and junior high schools in the town, further reducing the burden on households with children.

Our town has many immigrants from both within Japan and overseas, and a diverse range of children from different cultural and social backgrounds attend kindergarten and school. In addition to establishing the mutual aid philosophy left by Takeo Arishima, we will work together with families and the community to promote the realization of a peaceful and democratic society, and to promote moral education that fosters respect for each other's human rights and diversity and fosters compassion.
In addition, we will respect children's human rights based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the maximum extent possible and strive to develop rich hearts and humanity, as well as promote children's participation in town development based on Article 11 of the Basic Town Development Ordinance (the right of town residents under the age of 20 to participate in town development).

Through research activities at the Niseko Style Educational Research Group, the faculty and staff work together as a team to improve educational activities from the perspective of "proactive, interactive, and deep learning." In addition, through community school activities, we will further actively utilize local human resources and resources to realize an "educational curriculum open to society" and develop the qualities and abilities necessary to become creators of the future.

In order to provide support according to the educational needs of each child, we provide educational and school consultations from an early stage, including in early childhood. For children who require special consideration, we strive to improve special needs education by providing them with part-time instruction (language and learning classrooms) and learning in special needs classes, as well as by placing special needs instructors in elementary and junior high schools to support their daily lives and learning.

We aim to enrich STEAM education by implementing cross-disciplinary learning and inquiry-based learning during comprehensive learning time, nurturing the ability to integrate knowledge from different fields and solve problems creatively.
We will also work to enhance career education in schools so that students can acquire the qualities and abilities necessary for social and professional independence.

"Niseko Style Education" is an initiative to raise children who learn in Niseko and love Niseko, by considering the continuity of the 9 years of education from elementary school to junior high school, as well as the continuity with Yoji Centre and Niseko High School, and regarding the 4 schools as one continuous school body. We will further promote the Niseko Style of Education by promoting the initiatives centered on the priority items of English education, hometown learning, and the use of ICT, and by developing educational activities with a sense of unity among the schools.

Using the Niseko World Village at Niseko High School as its base, the organization will work with Niseko Town International Exchange Promotion Council, Hokkaido International School Niseko (HIS), and Kyoto International University Niseko (KIUA) to promote efforts to create a multicultural society in which not only high school students, but also elementary and junior high school students and town residents can participate.
Additionally, we will be implementing a youth exchange program with Satsumasendai City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and Takashima City (formerly Makino Town), Shiga Prefecture, to provide an opportunity for children to come into contact with different cultures and broaden their horizons.
 

Niseko High School is creating a new school that features entrepreneurial education and international education, with the ultimate goal of nurturing global talent with civic pride. In entrepreneurial education, we promote research activities using digital technology, and in the after-school entrepreneurial club (Stars UP) that started in 2024, we create opportunities to utilize learning outcomes and take on challenges. In international education, we support the costs of overseas training for fourth-year students, and promote the activities of NISEKO World Village, where students can come into contact with English and foreign cultures on a daily basis and acquire an international sensibility while having fun, and foster the internationality and English skills necessary to survive in a global society.
In addition, we will continue to consider specific educational curricula that take advantage of the characteristics of the new full-time, comprehensive, credit-based, advancement-oriented high school that will be established in 2026, and will strive to secure teaching staff.We will also comprehensively advance high school reform efforts, including reviewing the subsidy programs that have been implemented to date to support students and parents.
Regarding the new student dormitory, construction work will be carried out in FY2025 based on the detailed design from FY2024, and a system will be put in place to accept new students in FY2026.
In addition, to accommodate the expected increase in students wishing to live in the dormitory, a temporary dormitory has been constructed behind the Kibougaoka dormitory. As the number of students using the dormitory increases, we will be moving forward with new methods of providing meals to students, including providing meals to the new dormitory.
In addition, the new high school will have an enrollment capacity of 70 students per grade, which will mean that it will no longer be possible to provide school lunches as in the past, so the school will be considering ways to provide lunches as an alternative to school lunches.
Regarding school buildings, based on the basic concept formulated in 2024, renovation design work and partial renovation of school buildings will be carried out in 2025.
The number of applicants for 2024 and 2025 exceeded the capacity, and we expect to secure the number of students. We believe this is the result of our efforts to recruit students, such as implementing some of the new high school curriculum from 2026 in advance, visiting neighboring towns and villages, holding school information sessions, and utilizing the Regional Future Study Abroad program. We will further strengthen our efforts to recruit students for 2026 and secure our capacity.

In order to further advance digital transformation in education, we will work to improve the educational environment by integrating hardware, software, and human resources. In addition to improving the learning environment, deploying ICT support staff, and improving the teaching skills of teachers and staff using ICT, we will also work to improve the quality of education by enhancing learning through the use of learning support software and its use in home learning.
In addition, we will introduce a parent communication app that can be linked to the school management support system already in operation, making communication between the school and parents more efficient and reducing the administrative burden on teachers and staff.

We are required to respond to the changes in society surrounding students, such as bullying, school absenteeism, and online troubles. In addition to working to detect bullying early and prevent it from happening based on the basic policy for preventing bullying, we value students' independent activities and strive to create an educational environment where they can think up and follow rules on their own.
To help resolve these issues, we will assign school counselors to enhance consultation services for students and their parents.

In order to provide a continuous high-quality education and maximize the potential of children, we support the activities of the Niseko Style Education Research Association, which includes teachers in the town, to ensure that teachers have a strong sense of mission, rich social skills, practical teaching skills, and other qualities and abilities. On the "Niseko Style Education Day" held in November, teachers from all school types in the town gather together to discuss research and improve lessons and enrich learning.

We will promote work style reform in schools so that teachers and staff can focus on truly necessary educational activities while effectively utilizing limited human and material resources to achieve the educational goals of each school. We will also further advance digital transformation in the educational field and create a work environment where teachers and staff can fully utilize their abilities.

It is important to provide necessary support so that learning opportunities are not affected by the environment in which a child was born and raised, and to create an environment in which all children can attend school with peace of mind. Through the school attendance assistance system, we will continue to provide financial support such as for school supplies and school lunch fees.
In addition, we will assign teachers and support staff to children and students who do not speak Japanese, including those who have returned from overseas, to provide them with opportunities to attend school, help them adjust to school life, and provide appropriate guidance.
 

We will improve the educational environment at each school to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment. At Niseko Elementary School, we will install air conditioners in the staff room and nurse's office, etc., which do not have them, to combat the heat in the school. At Niseko Junior High School, we will convert student toilets to Western-style toilets, and at Kondo Elementary School, we will convert lighting fixtures to LED.
Additionally, at Niseko High School, we will proceed with design work to renovate the school building in preparation for the transition to a full-time education, as well as renovating classrooms and equipping them with desks, chairs, and other equipment.

Through the activities of each school's community school, schools, families, and the local community will share issues and goals and strive to realize an "educational curriculum that is open to society." Using the town's abundant educational resources, such as its natural environment and diverse human resources, we will promote community development initiatives and local school collaborative activities that are integrated with families and the local community, and work to enhance "education that nurtures children who are unique, love Niseko, and are proud of Niseko."

In preparation for disasters, incidents, accidents, etc., we will further strengthen disaster prevention education, crime prevention education, and road safety education. In terms of road safety, we will further strengthen cooperation with related organizations such as the police and road managers, and conduct safety inspections of school routes by the Niseko Town School Route Safety Promotion Council. In addition, we will develop and review crisis management manuals throughout the school's educational activities.
Regarding school bus operations, we will strive to prioritize safety, set up efficient routes, and review bus times to match school arrival and departure times to ensure that students have a means of transportation to and from school.

We will work to provide diverse learning opportunities and promote recurrent education so that students can learn anytime and anywhere throughout their lives.
As a learning opportunity for children, we will be holding the "Niseko Future Lab", which will allow them to come into contact with the town's various educational resources, learn about the good things about their hometown through discoveries and impressions, and develop the minds and bodies that will enable them to live strong lives in the future.
Learning opportunities for the elderly include study sessions and social gatherings at Kotobuki University, which aim to increase their knowledge and culture and help them live healthy, happy and cultured lives.

In order to make winter sports more accessible, we will provide opportunities to experience a variety of skiing styles, including skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country skiing. In addition, with the cooperation of each ski resort in the town, we will continue to subsidize the use of lifts for children, students, and their guardians.
In terms of sporting opportunities, we will continue to hold various sporting competitions, including the "Community Citizens' Sports Day" with the aim of promoting health and building friendships, and will also support the Mayor's Cup Sports Tournament and Niseko Marathon Festival, both of which are organized by sports organizations to encourage competitive ability.
Niseko Town Athletic Association plays a central role in promoting sports among townspeople, and we will support the activities of its affiliated organizations, promote local sports activities, and strive to train and secure instructors.
In addition, in order to make school club activities sustainable, Niseko Town Holiday Club Activities Regional Transition Review Council will consider measures for the gradual transition of club activities to the local area.

In order to make each facility under our jurisdiction safe, comfortable, and easy-to-use for all, we will strive to maintain and manage it appropriately based on long-term vision and development plans. At the General Gymnasium, we will proceed with design work for the arena floor, which is aging and in need of renovation.

Because culture and the arts contribute to the formation of a spiritually rich society, we will share roles and cooperate with related organizations to hold concerts for townspeople sponsored by the Cultural Association, youth art appreciation events for children and students, and exhibitions of children's work. We will also use facilities such as Niseko Town Center, the Learning and Exchange Center "Asobuku," and Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum to ensure opportunities to experience the arts, including music appreciation.

The Learning and Exchange Center "Asobuku" not only provides a fun and accessible reading environment for everyday use as a library, but also supports volunteer activities related to reading.
In addition, based on the Third Children's Reading Promotion Plan, in order to promote reading activities among children and students through schools, we will carry out support activities for schools with the cooperation of the NPO Asobooku-no-Kai, and will also work to improve the library environment, make effective use of the library, and enhance the book selection.

Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum is working to introduce and pass on the achievements of Arishima Takeo, one of the most representative writers of the Taisho period, such as his literary work and farm liberation. It also holds special exhibitions on literature, local history, and art, as well as educational outreach programs, and strives to improve its four functions as an art museum, literature museum, local history museum, and culture hall.
As for museum activities, the Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum will hold the "Arishima Takeo Youth Open Art Exhibition" for junior and senior high school students, as well as exhibitions utilizing the collection of illustrator Fujikura Hideyuki that is held at Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum at sister museums and other facilities outside the town.
In terms of the museum's activities, the permanent exhibition room will be open to the public all year round, and the museum will also be hosting the "Arishima Memorial Hall: A Land of Stories and Play" in collaboration with "Kids Park," a winter space for children run by the Niseko Future Support Team NPO.
Regarding local history museum activities, we will collect historical materials from the town and digitize them. At the Niseko Railway Heritage Site, in cooperation with Niseko Town Railway Culture Association, we will hold events to display railway vehicles and promote public relations activities to raise awareness both within and outside the town.
Approximately 50 years have passed since Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum was constructed, and deterioration has become an issue. Based on the principle of maintaining Arishima Takeo Memorial Museum building and the surrounding environment, including Arishima Memorial Park, we will continue to consider ways to maintain these four functions into the future.
 







In the 2025 fiscal year, we intend to continue to proactively address the various issues surrounding education while further enhancing the operation of the Board of Education. We ask for the understanding and support of all town residents and town council members in our educational administration.