Numerous municipalities nationwide are struggling to aid foreign students who are learning at local public schools but cannot understand the Japanese language fully or at all, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.

In a questionnaire survey on issues facing foreign children living in Japan, 46 percent of the 1,612 municipalities that responded said that learning the Japanese language and other subjects, which are taught in Japanese, remain a challenge for foreign students.

The survey, conducted from May to July, also highlighted another stumbling block in aiding foreign students: many are dispersed in small numbers — sometimes one or two — in public schools nationwide.