Apr 23, 2020 (Nikkei) - Japan's primary and secondary students are at risk of falling behind the rest of the world as the country's wheels of bureaucracy have been slow to adapt to restrictions brought about by the coronavirus outbreak.
While advanced democracies across the world have thrown resources at public schools to ensure students are able to take lessons at home while under lockdown, just a handful of Japanese schools will roll out online classes despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declaring a state of emergency on April 7, which was extended last week.
"We generally do not approve credit for lessons taken solely online," said an official at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Most schools had also been closed for at least a month starting March 2, though some reopened this month before the state of emergency was announced.
Although calls to institute online classes have gained momentum amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, Japan's rigid academic standards have prevented local governments from facilitating at-home learning.
For brick-and-mortar high schools, online classes are required to provide the same educational benefit as face-to-face learning. Even under those strictures, online classes cannot account for half of the credits gained from coursework. Virtual classes must be later supplemented by face-to-face lessons.
The only exceptions to the rule are high schools specifically designated for distance learning.
As a result, only 5% of local government bodies in Japan will launch online classes for public schools that have shut down, the education ministry said Tuesday.
In the 13 "special alert prefectures" where extra measures are needed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, only Tokyo and four other prefectures said they plan to implement Zoom-style classes in public high schools when asked by Nikkei.
Just one prefecture, Gifu, will immediately provide online learning throughout every area under its jurisdiction.
There have been calls for online learning from education and business circles before the coronavirus pandemic struck. The education ministry responded by unveiling a plan to distribute tablets and laptops to schools, but it still prioritizes lessons where all students are gathered together in a physical class.
