敗戦後の学校経営
敗戦によって日本は開闢(かいびゃく)以来の憂愁に閉ざされ、国民ひとしく混迷の底に打ち落されてはしまいましたが、民族の将来に思いを寄せ文化国家再建により、世界平和を確立せねばならない念願の上からも、学校教育だけは寸時も放置することはできません。かくて、９月の新学期からは各学校とも、とにかく従前通りの授業を開始することになりました。[英訳を表示]
After the defeat, Japan spun into a depression; its world standing and the status of the Japanese plummeted. However, through the rebuilding of the nation, a renewal of our culture, consideration of the future of our people, and with hope and the will to establish world peace, we couldn’t — not even for a moment — forget the importance of education. So, as usual, the new term for each school commenced in September.
戦線から、工場から久々に懐かしの校舎に落着いて、教室で授業が受けられるのでありました。しかし、物資は極度に不足したまま生産の見込みも立ちません。１、２本のさつま芋で腹を満たすだけの哀れな食事をして、色あせ「つぎはぎ」の制服をまとって通学してくるのですが、ノートも、ズック靴も、稀にしか配給はなく、試験に使うためのザラ紙も、印刷用の原紙も容易には手に入らないという始末でした。[英訳を表示]
The students came back from the battle lines and factories to the school building they had missed for so many years and once again attended lessons in their classrooms. But supplies and materials were scant, and there was no prospect of replenishing them. The students ate one or two sweet potatoes just to fill their stomachs and came to school wearing patched and faded school uniforms. They rarely had notebooks or canvas school shoes, and the rough paper for exams or originals for printing were in short supply.
それでも、名古屋や豊橋などでは、学校校舎がほとんど、空襲で焼失しておりましたが、ここ安城は小都市でもあり、軍事上の目標にもならなかったので、校舎だけは前年の地震による損害だけで無事でした。[英訳を表示]
Nevertheless, although nearly all school buildings in places like Nagoya or Toyohashi were incinerated in the air raids, here in Anjo — a small town not targeted by the military enemies — the school building was intact, except for the damage done by the earthquakes of the previous year.
しかし今まで、学校教育の中心施設として、大切にしていた学校図書館は、２か月に一度ずつ、進駐して来た占領軍の検閲をうけ、旧来の国策に関係があるとみられる「公」の字を入れられた書籍は、全部焼却を命ぜられました。こうして昔から貴重に扱ってきた本の大部分を失いました。[英訳を表示]
The library, of which we had taken great care and valued as the educational core of the school, was examined by the occupation army once every two months. All the books which had the mark “official” were thought to be related to the old national policies and were ordered to be incinerated. Almost all the books which we treasured as precious historical records were lost.
そのほか、体育関係のものまでも掛図や器具などを焼き棄てられたのです。またその進駐前後に、その取調べに応ずるためか、国の指令によって重要書類なども焼きましたので、詳細に校史をたどる術がなくなったことは「緒言」で述べた通りであります。こうして次第に、ＧＨＱの方針は、わが国の教育を根本的に転換させてしまうために、次々に指令が発せられ、その監視も厳重を極めてきました。[英訳を表示]
Additionally, the physical fitness equipment, as well as wall maps and other items, were burned. Also, according to the national directive, before and after the occupying army’s visit, in order to be able to respond to the interrogations, we destroyed important documents (as mentioned earlier in the preface), so there was no way to trace in detail the school history. Gradually, in order to change fundamentally the national system of education according to GHQ policies, one demand after another was issued and the monitoring of their implementation became increasingly strict.