The news that children were infected with the new coronavirus has caused a stir in the education field.
Classes were canceled on Friday afternoon at Nakafurano Elementary School in Nakafurano, Hokkaido, where two students, who are brothers, tested positive for the virus.
The school held a meeting on Friday night with the parents of all the students. During the meeting, Nakafurano Mayor Kiyoshi Komatsuda and others explained the situation and what measures will be taken moving forward.
"I want to make sure my family will stay healthy and stave off infection by washing our hands thoroughly and taking our temperatures for a while," a father in his 30s whose three children attend the school said after the meeting.
Komatsuda said, "I asked parents to handle the situation calmly and avoid non-essential outings over the long weekend."
The break ends on Tuesday, but the school is considering canceling classes for that day as well as the following days.
A junior high school in Koura, Shiga Prefecture, has postponed a school trip, which was scheduled for next Wednesday to Friday, for 45 second-year students. They were supposed to travel to Tokyo by Shinkansen bullet train and visit such places as Tokyo Disneyland and Yokohama Chinatown. The decision to postpone the trip was made because the school felt the coronavirus outbreak was still not completely contained, adding that it intends to make the trip in autumn.
There have also been moves to scale down graduation ceremonies. In Wakayama Prefecture, where 12 people were infected with the virus, the prefectural board of education has asked municipal educational boards within the prefecture to consider shortening school events.
Regarding graduation ceremonies and other school events in areas where people infected with the virus live, Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Koichi Hagiuda said at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting Friday, "I would like [schools] to consider changing the way the events will be held or postponing them."
As an example, he suggested that parents watch a video stream from a separate room instead of being in the gymnasium with the students, or have the events be held again during spring break.
Universities are also busy dealing with the coronavirus outbreak as the second round of entrance exams for public universities starts Tuesday.
To provide some measure of relief for applicants infected with the virus, universities such as Hokkaido University, Osaka Prefecture University and Nagoya Institute of Technology will determine the acceptance of those applicants based on the results of the National Center Test for University Admissions, which was held in January, along with school reports and other documents.
"Unless relief measures are taken, there is a possibility that people will force themselves to take the test and the virus will spread at testing sites," said an official of Osaka Prefecture University, who is in charge of entrance examinations.
Tokyo Institute of Technology will conduct a makeup exam in March if applicants are unable to take the entrance exam due to contracting the coronavirus.
On the other hand, other universities such as the University of Tokyo, Nagoya University, Kyoto University and Osaka University will not allow those infected with the virus to take the entrance exams, and will not implement any relief measures.
A University of Tokyo official in charge of entrance examinations said, "As the number of infections isn't dramatically increasing in Japan, we've determined that makeup exams are not necessary."
The education ministry has asked universities that have not clearly stated how they will deal with the outbreak to announce their countermeasures as soon as possible.
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