Govʼt advisory body to OK controversial vet school plan

November 3, 2017

TOKYO- A Japanese government council will recommend that education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi give the go-ahead for a veterinary medicine department plan by a school operator at the center of a favoritism scandal involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, informed sources said Thursday.

The Council for University Chartering and School Juridical Person, which advises the education minister, is expected to make the recommendation on Nov. 10, the sources said.

According to the sources, a special committee of the council concluded that Kake Educational Institution, run by a close friend of Abe, has made the veterinary school plan better taking into account the committee's opinions, the sources said.

In March, Kake applied for government approval for setting up the animal medicine faculty of the group's Okayama University of Science in a national strategic deregulation zone in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, western Japan, in April next year.

If the application is accepted, the country will have a new university veterinary department for the first time in 52 year.

Initially, the council was to make a decision on whether to approve the Kake plan in August. But it has put off the decision.

The sources revealed that the committee pointed out defects in student training programs at the planned department and Kake filed a revised application in September. Jiji Press