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[Info. File] Nearly 300,000 Students Not Attending School; Half Absent 90+ Days
From the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Survey on Problem Behaviors and School Refusal among Children and Students"
According to the "Survey on Student Guidance Issues, Including Problematic Behaviors and School Refusal among Children and Students in FY2022," published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in October 2023, the number of elementary and junior high school students who did not attend school for 30 days or more during the school year reached a record high of 460,648. Of these, the number of students who were absent due to school refusal increased by 22.1% from the previous year to 299,048, marking the 10th consecutive year of increase. While the number of students absent due to "avoiding COVID-19 infection" decreased to less than half of the previous year's figure, the number of students absent due to illness increased.
The percentage of students absent from school reached a record high of 3.2% (2.6% in the previous year). Over the past five years, this figure has increased from 0.7% to 1.7% for elementary schools and from 3.7% to 6.0% for junior high schools. Furthermore, 165,669 students, or 55.4% of all students absent from school, attended for 90 days or more.
Source: Created by the author based on the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Summary of the Survey Results on Problematic Behaviors, School Abstinence, and Other Student Guidance Issues in FY2022"
Regarding the causes of school absenteeism, "apathy and anxiety" accounted for 51.8% and "disrupted daily routines, play, and delinquency" for 11.4%, with individual factors being the most common.
However, in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "2020 Survey on School Absentee Children and Students," when asked "What first made you feel uncomfortable going to school?" (multiple answers allowed), 30% of elementary school students and 28% of junior high school students answered "it was because of teachers," while 25% of elementary school students and 26% of junior high school students answered "it was because of friends." While a decline in motivation to attend school due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been cited as a factor in the increase in school absenteeism, it is believed that factors related to the individual, school, and family are complexly intertwined.
Furthermore, the number of reported cases of bullying in elementary, junior high, and high schools increased by 66,597 (10.8%) from the previous year to 681,948. The number of serious bullying incidents also increased by 217 (30.7%) from the previous year to 923, both of which were record highs.
The number of violent incidents in elementary, junior high, and high schools also increased by 25% from the previous year to 95,426, approximately 3.6 times the number in 2015. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology attributes the increase in bullying and violent incidents to factors such as the resumption of various activities, including club activities and school events, which has led to increased opportunities for contact.
Looking at the number of violent incidents (per 1,000 students) by prefecture, there is a difference of approximately 45 times between Niigata Prefecture, which had the highest number, and Ehime Prefecture, which had the lowest. There is also a difference of approximately 8 times between Yamagata Prefecture, which had the highest number, and Ehime Prefecture, which had the lowest number of reported bullying incidents (per 1,000 students). There remains a large difference in awareness between local governments when it comes to identifying problematic behavior.
(Article revised and expanded from the November 2023 issue of EN-ICHI FORUM)
