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NATIONAL SITUATION REPORTS:

Sharing of national situations focused on two aspects: education and development. The participants took great care and attention in the presentation of these reports. The participant from Japan in her presentation opined that the Japanese educational system is one of the most classical examples of inhuman attitude. Making her presentation at the time of the controversial textbook issue in Japan and elsewhere in East Asia, she said that the Japanese educational system teaches its students only the development of industrial Japan and forgets its economic and ideological aggression. She further said that today's student generation in Japan is not aware how the Koreans came to live in Japan, and is also totally unaware of the history of imperialist Japan prior to the World War, and hence the student who graduates with such ignorance of history continues to oppress and exploit Asian peoples. Posing a challenge to the Asian SCMs, she said that Japan being the major aggressive country in Asia today, "it is the task of all Asians to become aware of the imperialistic attitude of Japanese before Japan could once again exercise its military power over other Asian nations in the pursuit of its economic exploitation. If today's educational system does not take into account the lessons of history, it is not true education. If through education, the oppressed is not liberated, then we have to see the materialistic development in Japan as inhuman development."

During the sharing session on the Philippine situation, it was brought to the attention of the participants that some of the universities in the Philippines figure in the list of the biggest thousand corporations. For these universities, education is considered as a business venture and are treated as commercially

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feasible’ projects. With such outlook towards education which should be a force to liberate the mind from ignorance and passivity, what is reinforced is competition and profit making thus catering to the growth of individualism and selfishness. In this context, it is not realistic to conceive today’s education as a tool for liberation nor for human development.