The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology announced new guidelines on the 26th in an effort to prevent fatal accidents occurring under school supervision, which are being repeated in various places. The guidelines specify that in addition to fatal accidents, new cases of unconsciousness must be promptly reported to the government, and that the government will advise on investigations and countermeasures as necessary.

The government requires boards of education across the country to report on fatal accidents that occur at schools, such as choking on school lunches or falling from windows, but in many cases this is not done thoroughly, and there is no way to investigate accidents or prevent recurrence. This is an issue aimed at achieving this goal.



New guidelines released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on the 26th require that in addition to cases in which a child or student dies, any new accidents resulting in loss of consciousness must be promptly reported to the government, and schools and boards of education must We are requesting that the government report the results of their investigation as soon as they are finalized.



The role of the government is also specified in order to increase the effectiveness of countermeasures, and the role of the government is to properly understand the situation of accidents as well as the status of investigations by schools and boards of education, and to provide necessary advice if investigations are difficult. It also includes things to do.



Furthermore, it is important that schools and other institutions respond honestly to children, students, and parents who have been victimized, and if necessary, a "support person" will be appointed to respond from a neutral standpoint. It is said that

In addition, in an effort to prevent accidents, guidelines for safety inspections at schools have been published online, with specific inspection items and standards, such as whether there are shelves that can be used as footholds near windows. Shown.



The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will notify the guidelines and other information to boards of education across the country on the 26th, and will continue to analyze accident information collected from various places and use it to consider measures to prevent recurrence.

Sharing examples from each region Preventing repeated accidents

The reason why the government has revised its guidelines and strengthened its countermeasures is to help prevent accidents from happening again at schools by sharing case studies from around the country.



Last month, a first-grade boy died at an elementary school in Fukuoka Prefecture after apparently choking on a quail egg he had been given during his school lunch.



An NHK analysis based on data from the Japan Sports Promotion Center from 2005 to last year found that choking occurred when eating ``round and smooth'' foods such as quail eggs, cherry tomatoes, and shiratama dango. Seven people are known to have died in the accident.



It has also been revealed that 30 people have died and 44 people have been disabled due to falls from windows.



On the other hand, in educational settings, there are cases in which detailed investigations of accidents are not carried out properly and reports are not made to the government.Experts say, ``By not investigating commonalities, the same things are repeated; It has also been pointed out that ``.



The newly released guidelines require boards of education and other organizations to report not only the occurrence of accidents but also the results of subsequent investigations, and also require the government to provide necessary advice in the event that investigations run into difficulties. The company plans to clarify the roles of each person and strengthen countermeasures.



In addition, the government's role is to compile lessons learned based on reports from each region and disseminate them to schools and other institutions to prevent similar accidents.



Furthermore, in light of the fact that there are cases in which support that is considerate of victims and their families is not sufficient, we have included the provision of staff to provide support as needed.



The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said, ``The new guidelines clarify the roles of schools, boards of education, etc. We hope that the newly created checklist will also be used in the field.''



The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology plans to disseminate the contents of the new guidelines and specific measures through training and briefing sessions for local government and school officials.