The Children and Families Agency opened a voluntary public comment period on 6 October on a working-group draft that would restructure the national standards for early childhood education and care. Comments must arrive by 5 November 2026. The draft comes from the Early Childhood Education Working Group and the nursery expert committee. It covers the three documents that govern practice at kindergartens, nurseries and integrated nursery-kindergarten centres, all issued in March 2017.
One structure for three kinds of facility
The draft's central complaint is that the current framework is poorly connected. It says the relationship between the qualities and abilities to be nurtured, the aims and content of the five areas of learning, and the "desired outcomes at the end of early childhood" is not well organised. Teachers and nursery staff therefore find it hard to link their planning to those abilities, and primary school teachers tend to grasp early childhood learning only in fragments.
The proposed fix is to set out the relationships between the three explicitly and to present aims and content in table form, as the school courses of study do. The draft also reorganises content around three age bands (age 0, ages 1 to 2, and age 3 and above) while asking staff to stay flexible, given how much development varies between children.
Evaluation, ICT and the nursery day
The draft would require evaluation based on an understanding of each child in every kindergarten, nursery and centre, whatever the facility type, and asks the state to produce reference material on evaluation. It says records should be kept and used for reflection, and notes that photos, video and ICT can help.
On ICT, the draft says it should be used as a tool to enrich direct, hands-on experience and should not displace it. It cites the possibility that screen use has long-term effects on health and development, and says cautions will be set out.
For nurseries, the draft says the intent and standing of play-centred activity time for children aged 3 to 5 should be made explicit. It also says that, for kindergartens and centres, activities after the formal teaching hours should connect with the curriculum, and that the state should set out a basic approach. The draft reports that understanding of the nursery guideline's instruction to provide care and education as one varies between sites, and that this causes confusion in practice.
Schools, regions and support for children with extra needs
The draft proposes a "bridging-period curriculum" combining the age-5 curriculum with the first-grade start curriculum, to be built jointly by early childhood facilities and primary schools. It says the state should revise its manual and offer varied models, without creating undue burdens. It also says prefectures should aim to set up early childhood education centres in every prefecture.
For children with disabilities, the draft says reasonable accommodation must be reliably provided and recorded in individual support plans so it carries over to primary school. For foreign children, it calls for support tailored to each child's Japanese acquisition, including use of the mother tongue.
How to comment
This is a voluntary consultation, not one run under the Administrative Procedure Act. Comments must be in Japanese, give reasons, and be sent through e-Gov, email or post. The agency says it cannot reply to individuals and may publish comments other than names and contact details. The notice gives no date for finalising the revised guidelines.