"The number of children is decreasing..."



Last year, the number of elementary and junior high school students who did not attend school reached a record high of over 240,000.

The number of elementary and junior high school students who do not attend school has increased for the ninth consecutive year.



How can I secure my learning?


Efforts using digital technology are beginning to reach children little by little.

Why can't you go to school?

These are the voices of children who do not attend school at a child support facility in Kawasaki City.



"Some of my treasured colored pencils were hidden

.


"

"We used to have a festival at school, but that kind of thing disappeared

."






Free school users are in a predicament due to rapid increase

At the free school "Teda no Fua" in Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture, there were about five users as of April last year, but it has increased fivefold to 25 people in the past year.

It means that there are many children who originally had difficulty breathing at school and lost their motivation to go to school after temporary school closures.

The school has been relocated twice to accommodate the rapid increase in the number of children.



Fees from guardians alone cannot cover personnel costs and expenses associated with relocation, but since there is no government system to subsidize the operation of free schools, they have to raise funds through crowdfunding. I'm here.

Representative Yoshikazu Yamashita said, "We are very concerned about the fact that the number of children suffering from suffocation is increasing even though the number of children is decreasing. Cash flow is quite difficult, so we need to improve the quality of education and make it sustainable. Support from the government is absolutely necessary to operate," he said.

School refusal [1] Online class

While support for elementary and junior high school students who do not attend school has not caught up, there are areas where the number of students who do not attend school has increased by using online classes.



Aomori City introduced online classes using a video conference system at all public junior high schools from the 2nd year of Reiwa as a countermeasure against the new corona, etc. It is also used as a school attendance measure.



As a result, the percentage of students who were able to attend school among the students who did not attend school in the city was more than 26% in the first year of Reiwa before the introduction, but in the second and third years after the introduction Well above average, rising to over 45%.

Koda Junior High School in the city has a separate room for students who have started school, in addition to distribution for families who do not attend school, and currently about 10 students are taking online classes here.



The girls who attend here are taking online classes in a separate room and are gradually able to go to the classroom.



(Female student)


“There was an image that I was being slandered in the classroom, and the hurdle to entering was high. The hurdles for

School refusal response [2] Metaverse school attendance

Some regions have begun initiatives to utilize learning support in the Metaverse, a virtual space.



Toda City, Saitama Prefecture uses a service that was started a year ago by a certified NPO in Tokyo, and is also called "metaverse school attendance."

Children can freely move around the world of the Metaverse using their own avatars, and by entering a specific classroom, they can learn with other children and teachers.

A fifth-grade elementary school student who has been using the service since two years ago said, "Because it's online, I can easily chat. I want to meet my friends and try things that I can't do online, like playing tag." It seemed that they were beginning to take an interest in exchanges.



Starting this fall, Toda City will treat non-attendance children and students who have learned using this service as attendance if the principal approves.

Toda City has taken measures such as setting up a special room in the school for truancy, but it has been difficult to grasp the situation of children who have no relationship with the school or the board of education. .



By using the Metaverse, we hope that children who do not attend school will first take the first step to connect with people around them.

(Masayuki Sugimori, Director, Toda City Education Center)


“I feel that it is very meaningful to come into contact with learning and create human relationships.

While utilizing digital...

While the search continues at the site, there are also survey results that are worrisome.



According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology this time, out of more than 240,000 elementary and junior high school students who do not attend school, more than one-third, or more than 88,000, do not receive support from schools or free schools. .

A person in charge of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is considering expanding the system, assuming that the response of the recipient of consultation and guidance is not keeping up with the increase in school refusal.

Expert "A system that can present various options"

Hiroki Yamamoto, an associate professor at Daito Bunka University who is familiar with school refusal, said, ``Because of the new corona, children are unable to go on school trips, are not satisfied with club activities, and have school lunches that are silent. Unlike adults, children do not have as much freedom to take a breather as they do, so it is thought that they are under pressure in various ways, leading to their refusal to attend school."



He added, "Although it should be the government's policy to provide diverse educational opportunities to children who do not attend school, as a result of missing school, there are more children who have nowhere to go because they have no choice in education and are isolated. The national and local governments should allocate sufficient financial resources and personnel, and create a system that can present various options."