Five days have passed since a 3-year-old girl died of heatstroke after being left behind in a school bus at a certified children's center in Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
The police are investigating whether the garden has neglected safety management, and the prefecture and city will decide soon whether to issue improvement recommendations based on the results of the special audit.
On the 5th of last month, Senna Kawamoto (3) died of severe heat stroke after being left in the car for about 5 hours in the parking lot of the "Kawasaki Kindergarten", a certified children's center in Makinohara City.
The director of the school at the time, who was driving the bus, neglected to check the inside of the bus, and the homeroom teacher did not contact the parents even though the child was not visible in the classroom. I explained that it was the cause.
The children's garden has been closed for a long time, but it resumed on the 3rd after taking safety measures such as revising the manual for confirming the number of people at the time of attendance.
On the other hand, in response to this incident, a number of kindergarten children have been transferred one after another.
According to the city, 167 children attended the kindergarten, but by the 4th, 13 children attending the nursery school and 9 children attending the kindergarten, a total of 22 children, had applied for a transfer. It means that there was.
Of these, 15 have already decided where to transfer.
The city will continue to accept applications for transfers.
Akihito Maeda, head of the Child and Child Rearing Division of Makinohara City, said, "Among the parents who applied for the transfer, there were many who were unable to wipe out their distrust even after attending the two briefing sessions held by the nursery school. There is concern that the environment of the children will change greatly due to the transfer, so I would like to make efforts to care for them mentally."
Some voices of doubts about resuming briefing sessions for parents
At the briefing session for parents held by the children's garden on the 23rd of last month, there were a series of voices of doubts and anxieties from the parents who attended the policy to reopen the garden.
At the briefing, Mr. Taro Masuda, who took over as chairman of the school corporation that operates the children's center, explained the policy of reopening the center after taking safety measures.
In response to this, a parent commented, "When I usually saw how I was in the morning and on my way home, I wondered if I was okay. It's strange that you can say, "I'm sorry."
In addition, in response to the explanation that the kindergarten had revised the manual for checking the number of people in order to prevent a recurrence, another parent said, ``No matter how good the manual is, as long as the same teacher sees the children, the same thing will happen. I think it will happen,” said a worried voice.
On the other hand, one of the parents who attended said, "I want the kindergarten to reopen, but I also want the bereaved families to take care of their feelings, so please do not force their understanding during the week before the reopening. There was also an opinion that
In addition to this, at the briefing session, opinions were expressed about the fact that the staff of the kindergarten bus were dispatched from the Silver Human Resources Center, and one of the parents said, "The elderly staff who are picking up and dropping off the bus are beyond their capacity. I thought I was there. I even helped take the kindergarteners to the classroom."
Guardian: "I have no choice but to trust and deposit"
One of the parents who left their child at the kindergarten told NHK, "I'm relieved that the kindergarten has reopened. Considering the feelings of the bereaved families, I have mixed feelings, but I don't want to move to another kindergarten. It's difficult due to the distance, and we have no choice but to trust the nursery school.Even if we review the manual, it doesn't mean that safety is ensured, so we want you to make thorough efforts to prevent recurrence."
Measures to prevent recurrence
The nursery school explained that the cause of this incident was insufficient confirmation of the application used to manage attendance, and repeated mistakes such as not inquiring the parents even though the girl was not in the classroom. I'm here.
Previously, we had to check the number of people when entering the kindergarten only once at 9:00 a.m., so in order to prevent a recurrence, we revised the manual for confirming the number of people and decided to check a total of four times. .
Specifically, first, the homeroom teacher or assistant of the class checks the app twice at 9:15 and 45 am, and writes information on the child who has entered the absence or lateness on the whiteboard. I'm doing it.
At 9:50 a.m., if there is no report from the class and no entry into the app or writing on the board, the principal or vice-principal will ask the homeroom teacher to confirm the status of contact with the guardian. increase.
After that, at 10:00 a.m., the principal or vice-principal will go around each class and call each class and circle the list.
According to a lawyer at Kodomoen, the nursery school conducted simulations in accordance with the revised manual twice, on the 29th of last month and the 1st of this month, in the presence of parents, and decided that it was possible to reopen.
President: "We will never let a tragic incident happen"
Upon reopening the nursery school, Taro Masuda, chairman of the school corporation that operates the nursery school, responded to the press coverage.
In this, Chairman Masuda once again apologized to the girl and the bereaved family, and clarified that all the staff had a silent prayer before the start of work.
Regarding the reason for the decision to reopen the nursery school, she said, "Considering the feelings of the bereaved families, it was difficult to make the decision to reopen the nursery school. I made a decision based on the
After that, "I don't think the bereaved family has been convinced, but in the exchanges so far, there has been no particular opposition. I want to aim for a beautiful garden," he said.
On the other hand, regarding the resumption of transportation by bus, he said that he is currently in the stage of preparing a manual, saying, "We will simulate it many times and have the parents look at it, and we will resume it at the stage where we are satisfied." I explained.
According to the chairman, Tomoko Sugimoto, the deputy director of the children's center and the homeroom teacher of the girl's class, retired at the end of last month in response to this incident.
The prefectural audit was faulty, but the checking function should be strengthened
Regarding this incident, it became clear that the audit of Shizuoka Prefecture, which supervises the safety management of certified childcare centers, was insufficient.
In July last year, a child died of heatstroke after being left behind in a shuttle bus at a nursery school in Fukuoka Prefecture. I issued a notice asking for sharing between people.
On the other hand, according to the prefecture, the contents of this notice were not reflected in the audit items in the regular audit of Kawasaki kindergarten conducted in November last year, and it was only a verbal warning.
About this, Miyako Koike, the head of the prefectural welfare guidance department, said, "I regret that I needed to check and call attention to things that could lead to serious accidents even in the middle of the year." .
Governor Kawakatsu also acknowledged that the prefecture's response was inadequate, saying, "There was a fault in the audit."
In response to this incident, the prefecture is considering conducting unannounced audits of children's centers and nursery schools in the future, and plans to strengthen the administrative check function.
In addition, the prefecture has not formulated its own safety management guidelines that will serve as standards for the operation of shuttle buses at childcare facilities in the prefecture, so it will be compiled within this month.
Obligation to install safety devices on shuttle buses
In this incident, the police are proceeding with an investigation on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death, assuming that the garden neglected safety management.
In the middle of last month, we parked the bus at the site parking lot and verified how much the temperature inside the car rose, and confirmed that it exceeded 45 degrees.
On the other hand, the prefectural and city governments have also entered into special audits of children's centers to investigate problems related to safety management, and will decide soon whether to issue recommendations for improvement.
In addition, the government is also moving to review the system, and on the 29th of last month, Minister Ogura instructed relevant ministries and agencies to require the installation of safety devices on shuttle buses such as nursery schools.