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Friday March 30, 6:58 PMTokyo gov't punishes 35 teachers over nat'l anthem(Kyodo) _ The Tokyo metropolitan board of education on Friday punished 35 public school teachers for refusing to stand up and sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem in front of the "Hinomaru" flag during graduation ceremonies this month, board officials said.Of the 35, three were suspended from school for one, three and six months, respectively, and 12 others received pay cuts, while the remaining 20 faced admonitions, the officials said. The move has brought the total number of teachers in Tokyo reprimanded over the Kimigayo and Hinomaru issue to 381 since the education board in 2003 notified teachers at public schools that they could face punishment if they refuse to give respect to the flag and the anthem during school ceremonies. Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who took office in 1999 and is seeking a third four-year term in the April 8 gubernatorial election, declined to comment on the education board's decision but sounded a supportive note at a press conference Friday. "I'm not authorized to make objections to the education board" as it is an independent entity, he said, adding, "Public school teachers are public servants receiving salaries from taxpayers' money. I doubt whether it's right for a teacher, for example, to decline to play the piano (accompaniment for the anthem)." The governor was apparently referring to a recent case in which the board reprimanded a music teacher at a public high school in Tokyo for refusing to play the piano accompaniment during a school event in November. Former Miyagi Gov. Shiro Asano, a key challenger to Ishihara, has said he likes the national flag but is opposed to the idea of punishing teachers for refusing to stand before it or sing the anthem at school ceremonies. Manzo Yoshida, another candidate who formerly served as mayor of Tokyo's Adachi Ward, echoed Asano's view Friday, saying in connection with the issue, "(As a Tokyo governor) I would be able to say, 'Let's stop forcing people to do something and punishing those for disobeying what they are told to do.'" |
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