The education ministry reached two conclusions from its investigation into the fatal capsizing of a small boat off the Henoko coast in Okinawa Prefecture.

The boat’s captain and a student from Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyoto Prefecture, who was part of a school study tour, died in the accident.

Anger wells over the slipshod safety management that led to the loss of the precious life of a 17-year-old. The ministry’s conclusion that the safety measures were extremely inappropriate is acceptable.

At the same time, the ministry judged that the high school’s peace study violated the second paragraph of Article 14 of the Fundamental Law of Education defining political neutrality.

The provision has been in place since the law took effect in 1947, but this is the first time the education ministry has concluded that a violation occurred.

Major doubts remain about that conclusion as the........

© The Asahi Shimbun