A record 40,374 cases of violence were reported at public schools across Japan in the school year ending in March, the education ministry said Friday.
The figure, up 10.4 percent from the previous year, is the largest recorded since the ministry began including data from elementary schools in the statistics in the 1997-1998 school year. The previous record of 36,578 was set in the 1999-2000 school year, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry said.
According to the latest preliminary data, there were around 20,800 cases of violence against other students, 11,900 cases of vandalism, and 5,800 violent acts committed against teachers. There were also around 2,000 cases of violence against people outside of schools, according to the data.