TOYAMA (Kyodo) Japan used to be known as a country with a near fanatical devotion to education, but it now not uncommon to hear of high school students refusing to attend class.

According to a survey last August by the education ministry, about 2 percent of the nation’s high school students, or some 67,000, do not go to school, leading some to worry that they may become “NEETs” — those not in education, employment or training — or remain shut-ins at home.

Education experts say that while support measures for absentee students have improved at the elementary and junior high school level, those for high school students are lacking.

One afternoon last December, about 10 such students gathered at a classroom in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, and began making paper airplanes.

As they folded the paper, they seemed to relive an earlier time, shouting with joy as they let their creations fly.

Among them was one student who does not like to come into physical contact with others, but even this student took the hands of a “classmate” when asked for advice on where to fold the paper next.

“So long as students were admitted to public schools, it should be public administrators who take care of them,” said Tamotsu Tsuchimuro, 53, assistant chief of school guidance at the Ishikawa prefectural board of education.

The prefecture allows students who decline to go to school to come to six facilities. While the main aim of the project is to get them to return to school, another important goal is helping them to fit into society through participation in group activities.

In many cases, high school absenteeism is viewed as laziness on the part of the students, since high school is not compulsory and the students choose to leave of their own free will. There are few public facilities that deal with absentee high school students, and efforts such as those in Ishikawa Prefecture are rare.

One 18-year-old youth attending the special class stopped going to school for long periods after being bullied in elementary school.

He filed for a leave of absence with his high school and avoided contact with others, saying he was unable to trust anyone.

But by coming to the special classes he has gradually regained his confidence, and is now popular with his peers.

He is also reviewing his junior high textbooks and wants to go back to high school and study agriculture, his favorite subject.

“What is especially necessary for (these) students is a place where they can regain the rhythm of daily life and feel at ease,” one teacher at the special class said.

Private facilities such as free schools and correspondence schools began to reach out to those who skip regular classes before local governments did. At such facilities, students can study at their own pace and there are other students and staff with whom they can discuss their problems.

One 17-year-old youth who attends Daiichi Koto Gakuin Toyama School — a school that helps absentee teens in the city of Toyama — stopped going to his regular high school because he was fed up with his school life.

“I didn’t have the will to work, either, and I was at a loss for what to do with my life,” he said. On a friend’s advice, he enrolled at the special school, and by interacting with classmates, he has begun to think about going to college.

Studies show that about 36 percent of absentee high school students end up dropping out, a figure that the education ministry views as serious.