The education ministry has decided to set up a system using information and communications technology to connect multiple small-scale high schools in mountainous areas or on remote islands with their urban counterparts, enabling long-distance learning for their students, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry aims to lessen the gap in educational environments between rural and urban areas. As small high schools have fewer teachers, it makes it difficult to provide the guidance that meets the individual needs of students, such as preparation for university entrance exams or finding employment.
It will mark the first time for the government to establish a network of multiple high schools for the purpose of reciprocal remote learning.
The high school standards law stipulates that the number of teachers a school employs is to be decided mainly based on the number of students. According to the ministry, there were 146 high schools nationwide that had just one class for each grade in fiscal 2019, mainly in thinly populated and largely inaccessible mountainous areas and remote islands.
Such high schools of that size have only about eight educators, excluding the principal.
Since it is difficult to cover all subjects necessary to prepare for university entrance exams, it is not unusual for local junior high school students to attend high schools in urban areas, then stay there to go on to university or find a job. That has led to concerns of an accelerated outflow of rural population.
The ministry therefore decided to establish a network connecting large-scale high schools with multiple small ones to offer simultaneous, interactive classes remotely throughout the year.
The system will allow for a more varied curriculum, taking advantage of the specialized fields of the high school teachers participating in the network. It also makes possible detailed lessons tailored to the students' needs, such as university entrance exam preparation or to match their level of proficiency.
According to the ministry, there were 3.42 million high school students in fiscal 2018, down about 40% from 5.79 million in fiscal 1990. With more high schools having student populations that fall below capacity, consolidations are accelerating.
Some small-scale high schools are already offering long-distance learning, by which students can earn up to 36 of the 74 credits required for graduation. A special measure has also been taken to accept all credits taken through simultaneous, interactive classes between homes and schools amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The ministry plans to include 800 million yen to cover the costs of the remote education project in its budget request for fiscal 2021. The ministry hopes to implement the system in about 30 locations nationwide at first.
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