With the increase in foreign students at elementary and junior high schools, cultural differences between non-Japanese children and school authorities are presenting considerable challenges for teachers.
Some foreign students bring soft drinks to school, which is forbidden, while others do not report their absences. Many children and their parents or guardians are confused by Japanese school rules that are different to those in their mother countries.
With the expansion of acceptance of more foreign workers into Japan that started in April, some local governments have begun setting up facilities to not only teach children the Japanese language, but also help them learn the rules they must adhere to at school.
In one case, a Chinese pupil at a public elementary school in Tokyo was left at home alone for several days. The child's guardian had gone on a business trip to China, leaving the child with money for food to last them until they returned to Japan a few days later.
Similar cases involving other guardians are known to have taken place at the school. The school has urged students' guardians not to leave children at home alone for safety reasons. But some guardians, apparently surprised at the request, replied that such worries did not concern them.
More than 30 percent of students at the elementary school are children of parents from overseas, such as China. The school prepares the children for learning the Japanese language and carefully explains the school rules, such as it being forbidden to bring soft drinks in with them and the mandatory reporting of absences. It also teaches children who have no experience of cleaning school premises how to carry out those tasks properly.
However, these rules have yet to be taken on board by all, as some pupils are still not informing the school of their absences.
A source related to the school did not conceal their anxiety, saying: "It is not easy to make them understand the differences in lifestyles, partly due to the language barrier. When the number of foreign children further increases, to what extent can we cope with the situation?"
At a public elementary school's athletic meet in Hyogo Prefecture, the guardian of a Vietnamese child took them home shortly after the end of the last event the child participated in, even though the closing ceremony was yet to take place. The guardian did not know that the athletic meet was part of the school timetable, considering it to be an extracurricular sports event, the school said.
Local governments lend support
According to an education ministry survey, in the 2016 school year there were 34,335 foreign students who needed to learn the Japanese language at public elementary, junior high, high schools and other schools nationwide. The figure is about a 50 percent increase from 10 years ago, and it is highly likely to go up further with the increasing number of foreign workers in the country.
In response to the situation, the Yokohama city government in the 2017 school year set up a "himawari" facility dedicated to helping mainly elementary and junior high school children who have recently arrived Japan learn the Japanese language about three days a week, and where teachers and other staff teach them the rules to follow in their school lives.
There are more than 2,300 children who require Japanese language education in Yokohama. With the opening of the facility, an increasing number of children have gained a deeper understanding of Japanese school rules, and there have been fewer cases of breaking them, such as by bringing soft drinks to school.
In the 2018 school year, the Hamamatsu city government started a system of sending support staff to schools to guide foreign students in the early stages of their adjustment to Japanese school life. The staff also teach foreign students school rules, such as how to prepare for school lunch, do the cleaning and how to carry out tasks on day duty.
The ministry has provided financial support to local governments covering 65 areas nationwide, including support for operating himawari facilities.
Tomoko Ochiai, an associate professor of cross-cultural education at Kobe University, said: "It's important not to force things that are considered common sense in Japanese schools on foreign students, but to make good use of the cultural differences in educating children and the importance of understanding different cultures. I hope to cooperate with nonprofit and other organizations that support foreigners."
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