Education Minister Shinsuke Suematsu called on schools nationwide on Friday to take measures to prevent heat-related illnesses. The request came in response to a number of cases where students wearing masks collapsed from heat exhaustion.
The ministry also issued a notice to the country's boards of education, urging schools to encourage students to remove their masks during physical education classes and sports club activities, as well as on their way to and from school. This applies to elementary, junior and senior high school students.
"I want schools to prioritize prevention against heat stroke over wearing masks in schools," Suematsu said during a news conference Friday. "The risk of wearing masks will increase as temperatures and humidity rise further.”
This is particularly important this year, as Japan is on course for an especially scorching summer with above-average temperatures.
Since May, there have been an increasing number of cases across Japan in which students were sent to hospitals after suffering a heat stroke in PE class or at a school sporting event. At one university, a member of the boy's baseball team collapsed while running and died the following day.
The government issued new guidelines for masks last month, saying they can be taken off both indoors and outdoors if the wearer is not engaged in conversation. However, many students have continued to wear masks, even as temperatures rise.
The ministry's notice emphasizes that heat stroke is a serious — and often life-threatening — problem, saying that schools should take care to protect their students.
However, the ministry also called on schools to make sure students refrain from talking near others when they aren't wearing masks, and that appropriate consideration must be given to children who cannot remove their masks due to infection concerns.