Night schools offer alternative route to completing compulsory education

Public junior high schools that hold classes in the evenings are being established across the nation, providing learning opportunities for those who were unable to complete their compulsory education for various reasons.

Since 2017 when a law on securing educational opportunities took effect, the government has been expanding its network of such schools with the aim of setting up at least one such public night school in each prefecture and designated city. As of April this year, there were 53 public night schools in 18 prefectures and 13 government-designated cities nationwide. More such schools will be opened next year in Aichi, Mie and Ishikawa prefectures, among others.

Students at night schools include those who were unable to attend junior high school due to truancy, family problems or other reasons, as well as foreign nationals who moved to Japan without completing the equivalent level of education in their home countries.

Classes are held five nights a week, with tuition and textbooks provided free of charge. Students who complete the standard three-year course, which includes term exams, will receive graduation certificates.

Shizuoka Prefectural Fujinokuni Junior High School became the first public night school to open in the Chubu region last year. Its main campus is located in the city of Iwata, while the city of Mishima hosts a branch.

At the Iwata school, which is located on the third floor of the Tenpyo no Machi complex near Iwata Station, 17 students ranging in age from their teens to their 30s are enrolled in the course. Of these, 12 originated from other countries.

On one particular evening, students were divided into four groups — three of these groups comprising two or three students each learned the Japanese language according to their levels, while the remaining group took a social studies class.

Lessons started at 5:25 p.m., with the learning area divided by partitions. Students in one group were asked to write short sentences in Japanese in their notebooks about what they did during their summer vacation.

Another group of students with an intermediary level of Japanese learned how to write postcards.

A teacher asked a 16-year-old male student from Sri Lanka if he was writing to his mother. He nodded with a shy smile, saying, “I didn't attend junior high school, so I wanted to study. I’ve made new friends here and it’s been so much fun.”

The school has no teachers specializing in teaching Japanese as a foreign language. Head teacher Takeshi Kameyama explains that the school is putting together a curriculum that caters to each student through a process of trial and error.

Last year, Japanese language classes were prioritized in the first six months for those who needed them, with other lessons limited to mathematics and technical subjects.

But some students voiced their frustration about the focus on the Japanese language. As such, from this year, Japanese language classes are being limited to one of four classes each day, and language support is provided to those who need it through other subjects such as social studies and science.

For students with a relatively high level of English proficiency, the school is flexible in that it reduces the hours they spend on English lessons while increasing those for other subjects.

Attrition was an immediate problem for the school when it opened last year. Of the nine students who enrolled for its three-year course, seven have dropped out. Principal Hitoshi Suzuki says some students didn't have a clear idea of what their life would be like after enrolling. “Some students work during the day, and they may have found it harder than expected and lost their motivation,” he says.

For students who enrolled this year, the school encouraged them to participate in trial sessions following their application. Teachers also interviewed prospective students before their enrollment to discuss their future plans and encourage them to continue learning.

These measures have led to an improvement in students' attendance rate to 90% this year from last year's 50%.

Suzuki says many teachers at regular junior high schools have little knowledge of what night schools are like. As such, his teachers visit junior high schools in the day to spread awareness about the programs his school offers.

Suzuki cited as an example how one of his students who had graduated from junior high school without actually having attended classes — this demographic makes up a significant proportion of students taking night classes — went on to study at his school for a year before advancing to high school. He hopes that through such an example, teachers at junior high schools will be aware that night school is an option for students who tend to be truants at regular schools.

With the opening of more public night schools planned for next year, the city of Nagoya held four briefing sessions about them from August to October, which attracted 89 prospective students and their parents.

Nana Hibino, 46, who attended one of the briefing sessions, currently studies at a night school run by volunteers in Aichi Prefecture three nights a week. Hibino, who is originally from China, says she is happy that she has learned not only Japanese but also how to read maps through geography class. She is looking to enroll in a new public night school as she feels the current three nights a week are not enough for her.

However, among those taking night classes at schools run by volunteers, as with Hibino's case, only a small number are actually considering enrolling in public night schools, typically due to time constraints and a lack of motivation.

Etsuko Sasayama, who runs the volunteer night school Hajime no Ippo Kyoshitsu in Nagoya, points out that some people are reluctant about going back to school despite feeling a need to learn.

Sasayama’s school currently has about 40 students attending classes once a week. Among her students are those who were unable to pass their driver's license test because they lacked the ability to read kanji, or those who couldn’t do the calculations required of them for work.

Sasayama emphasizes the importance of raising awareness about public night schools for those who wish to learn. “To meet people's potential desire to learn, their supporters in the community should let them know what public night schools are all about,” she says.