The recession probably caused Brazilian school attendance in Japan to drop by about 40 percent over a two-month period ending in early February, the education ministry said.
There were 86 Brazilian schools in Japan as of Feb. 2, compared with 90 in December. According to the 58 schools that responded to the survey, attendance dropped from 6,373 to 3,881 over the period.
The survey covered Brazilian children in age groups corresponding with preschool to high school levels in Japan.
An analysis of 1,718 Brazilian children shows that 722 went back to Brazil, 598 were staying home, 160 had transferred to Japanese public schools, and 53 moved to other Brazilian schools.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has unveiled a package of measures to support the children, including promoting their transfers to Japanese public schools.
The measures also include allocating support staff and teachers who can teach Japanese.