A panel commissioned by The Asahi Shimbun is proposing that the central government send teenagers and young adults who have failed to find permanent jobs to do reconstruction work in the earthquake disaster areas of northeastern Japan.
A panel commissioned by The Asahi Shimbun is proposing that the central government initiate a program to have teenagers and young adults engage in reconstruction work in the earthquake disaster areas of northeastern Japan.
The panel, dubbed "Nippon Mae-e Iinkai (Japan move forward committee), unveiled July 21 a list of programs that focus on the role of young people in helping in areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The nine-member panel, led by playwright Oriza Hirata and Yoshinori Hiroi, professor of public policy at Chiba University, has been discussing issues ranging from nuclear power plants, land use and the role of politics, along with the affairs of young people.
The group will follow up with proposals on each of these issues.
The group focused on the theme of "engaging youth and nurturing responsibility."
One proposal involves creating a system in which the national government hires unemployed people between the ages of 15 and 35 to go into disaster zones to work in reconstruction-related activities.
The plan stipulates that the central government would pay 150,000 yen (about $1,900) a month in wages to each worker, and provide basic training. The workers then will be sent to work under local governments or organizations for one to three years. During their tenure, the workers will acquire skills as well as be encouraged to receive work licenses and vocational permits.
If 10,000 young people participate, the annual budget is expected to reach around 18 billion yen, a figure that can be accommodated in the third supplementary budget for fiscal 2011.
The panel also proposed academic programs for Japanese and foreign students in the Tohoku region. The academic program, dubbed "Tohoku Jiyu Daigaku (Free university)" is a system that would allow students to participate in volunteer activities or disaster-related studies and receive credits that are transferrable to colleges and universities in Japan or in their native countries.
The group also suggested that the students stay in temporary housing and become involved with the local communities. By having future artists and others live in the local communities, panelists said they hope the interaction would help revitalize aging communities.
The group also noted that in order to create Japan's future, it will be necessary to focus on the younger generation, and is considering discussing measures to encourage the political involvement of young people and giving them more say in decision-making.