School Leaders to Resign over Okinawa Fatal Ship Accident

Tokyo, Aug. 25 (Jiji Press)–Leaders of a private high school and the school operator will resign over a boat accident in Okinawa Prefecture that killed two people, including a female student, it was learned Tuesday. Eiji Hatta, chairperson of the board of trustees of Doshisha, the incorporated educational institution that runs the high school in question, Doshisha International Senior High School, in Kyotanabe, Kyoto Prefecture, plans to resign, education minister Yohei Matsumoto told a news conference after a cabinet meeting Tuesday. According to ministry officials, Kikuo Nishida, principal of the high school, is also expected to resign at the end of this month. Doshisha reported to the ministry on Monday that Hatta expressed his intention to resign at an extraordinary board meeting last week, the officials said. “This does not mean that the corporation and the school have completed their response to the problem,” Matsumoto stressed. “It’s important that they continue to respond with a sense of responsibility, considering things pointed out in the investigation report (by a third-party committee).” The accident occurred March 16 off the coast of the Henoko area in Nago, Okinawa, during a school trip. Two boats carrying 18 students and three crew members capsized, leaving student Tomoka Takeishi, 17, and Hajime Kanai, 71, captain of one of the boats, dead. The third-party panel set up by Doshisha recognized the responsibility of the school over the accident, saying that there was a lack of awareness and flaws in its safety management system. The panel recommended measures to prevent a recurrence, including a review of its risk management manual. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]