More than a third of the students aged 15 and under who died or went missing in the March 11 quake and tsunami lost their lives after being picked up from school by their parents, according to a Kyodo News survey.
In Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, a total of 342 students at public elementary and junior high schools died or were unaccounted for, of whom 120 had been picked up from school by their parents. The students are believed to have been hit by tsunami after leaving school buildings.
Some schools are now considering a basic policy of prohibiting parents from picking up their children when tsunami and other disaster warnings are issued, after it was found that almost all of the students in the area who remained at school March 11 survived.