Online Education Mitigates Truancy Problem in Japan

Tokyo, Nov. 18 (Jiji Press)--Online learning, increasingly adopted in Japan since the closure of all elementary, junior high and high schools this spring to protect children from the novel coronavirus, has helped the education of truant students. Aoba Junior High School, run by the city of Fukuoka, western Japan, held students' meetings in mid-May during its closure, using a videoconference system provided by Zoom Video Communications Inc. of the United States. The school canceled a plan to launch remote education with the Zoom system because physical classes restarted earlier than expected. Teachers decided, however, to use the system to give lessons to students who tend to stay away from school without leave or explanation. Around 10 such students now study with camera-equipped personal computers in a room separated from their classrooms at the school. "They are enjoying a sense of studying together with their classmates," a teacher said. While the students can take online lessons at home if they wish, some are returning to their classrooms "probably because they recognize the atmosphere of classes and find a lower mental obstacle to joining them," Seiji Sagara, principal of the school, said. Sagara believes that the Zoom system could be used for students unable to come to school for long-term hospitalization or natural disasters. The Kitakyushu city office in Fukuoka Prefecture started remote classes in August for truant third-year students at municipal junior high schools who wish to go to senior high school. Supervisors of the municipal education board deliver classes on three subjects per day, five days a week, from a closed elementary school via the Zoom system. In August, 24 students took the lessons at home using tools such as PCs. Including two students who stayed home to avoid getting infected with the coronavirus due to chronic disease in the family, they usually turned off cameras. But many of them expressed positive responses in a questionnaire about the online education, such as "I was motivated to study" and "I enjoyed the lessons." The Kitakyushu education board will continue the remote program until February, when third-year junior high school students take high school entrance examinations. In online education launched in April by the city of Aomori, northeastern Japan, for all municipal elementary and junior high schools, students in each grade took the same lessons provided by experienced teachers. As many as 75 pct of students who refused to go to school in the previous school year took the lessons, and 90 pct of them returned to their schools upon the resumption of physical classes. Although the 90 pct include students who study separately from classmates or return home earlier, a senior member of the municipal education board said, "The closure of all schools has possibly helped (truant students) feel comfortable, knowing that they are not the only ones who cannot go to school." The board plans to continue remote classes and other educational support for school-phobic children. "The launch of online school education has enabled many children to find contact with society," a senior education ministry official said. "We hope programs of this kind will be used more widely." END