The city of Hakodate, Hokkaido, has decided to cancel swimming pool classes at public elementary schools in the city this fiscal year due to the inability to secure bus drivers for children to travel to schools with swimming pools.
According to the Hakodate City Board of Education, about half of the public elementary schools in the city have a swimming pool, and children from elementary schools that do not have a pool have been transported by bus to schools with swimming pools to take classes.
Elementary schools in the city have suspended pool classes for three years due to the influence of the new coronavirus, and we have been considering whether we can resume them this year.
However, due to the decrease in demand for buses due to the Corona disaster, a shortage of drivers, and the recovery of tourism demand and the concentration of drivers in the tourism industry, bus drivers could not be secured.
In addition, if classes were held only in schools with swimming pools, all elementary schools in the city decided to cancel classes because of the disparity in education.
Regarding this, the Hakodate City Board of Education commented, "We would like to consider improvement measures and respond as soon as possible so that they can be implemented next fiscal year."