Schools in Japan rethink where to teach children with disabilities

Dec 22, 2023 | News On Japan

Dec 22, 2023 (Japan Times) - Local education authorities across Japan are struggling to secure classrooms for an increasing number of children with disabilities who, in some cases, are even being forced to attend classes in school hallways.

Even as schools for such children are scrambling to expand classroom capacity, the country faces a dilemma, with calls also growing internationally for it to integrate them with their peers in regular classes.

Japan's education system for such students has been called into question by a United Nations panel and the voices against separating them are becoming louder domestically as well, although the central government does not appear likely to budge.

Whether students with disabilities should be integrated with others in regular classes in the first place remains a controversial issue in Japan.

In September last year, the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommended that Japan cease special-needs education, saying that children with disabilities are being segregated from students in regular classrooms. ...continue reading

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