EDITORIAL | Revisit 'No Need to Attend School' Law that Fostered Trend

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The number of elementary and junior high school students in Japan who did not attend school reached a record high of 346,482 in fiscal year 2023. This is the 11th consecutive year of increase and the first time it has exceeded 300,000.

Children should not miss the experience of a school education by being kept out of school. The Ministry of Education and local boards of education must urgently consider drastic measures to respond to this problem.

The ministry surveyed national, public, and private schools throughout Japan. According to the responses, 130,370 elementary school students were absent for 30 days or more in the 2023 academic year. Furthermore, there were 216,112 junior high school students absent during the same period. Both numbers were up by more than 20,000 from the previous academic year.

The percentage of all school-age children not attending school stood at 3.7%, compared to 3.2% in 2022. On average, that means there was at least one absentee in every class of 35 students.

What is particularly worrying is the greater rate of increase for younger students. Over the past two years, the number of second-graders not attending school has increased by 1.88 times. Meanwhile, the number of first-grade non-attendees has more than doubled, increasing by 2.02 times.

*Japanese elementary school classroom in 2022. (©Sankei)*

Create a Safe Learning Environment at School

There were also a record number of "serious incidents." In these cases, youngsters were absent for extended periods because they had been bullied or for another reason. The Ministry of Education and every board of education should take this situation seriously.

Several reasons are pointed to for the sudden increase in school absenteeism. One is the disruption in the rhythm of daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Others include changes in the attitudes of parents and also guardians. The Act on Ensuring Educational Opportunities was adopted in 2017 to support a variety of learning opportunities outside of school. Behind it was the belief that "there is no need to force a child to go to school." Subsequently, this belief spread rapidly.

The number of students not attending school, which was 144,031 in fiscal 2017, has increased by more than 200,000 in the six years since that law came into effect. Hasn't the time arrived when we need to fundamentally reconsider whether the policy set out in that law was appropriate?

*Junior and senior high school students discussing the current social problems on July 7, 2023 in Kawasaki. (©Kyodo)*

Support for Individual Students

There is also concern that teachers are not fully aware of the conditions their students find themselves in.

To identify the causes of school absenteeism, the Ministry of Education conducted a multiple-choice survey of teachers. It also asked about the reasons why their students came to them for counseling. The most common answer, at 32%, was "I have no motivation regarding school life."

Students today face a variety of very real problems. If we just lay the blame on their "lack of motivation," effective measures will not be fully implemented. It is important to make efforts to grasp the situation in more detail through home visits and also other means. As well, we need to take measures to improve the caliber of our teachers.

The role of schools goes beyond academics. By participating in group life, children learn how to interact with others through both unpleasant and pleasant experiences. We must not allow the idea that there is "no need to attend school" to take root.