The refusal of students to go to school is nothing new. What makes it such a pressing issue in Japan and the United States today is the difference in lifetime earnings between dropouts and diploma holders.
Once students fall behind because of excessive absences, they're likely to give up entirely and drop out. That's why it behooves the education ministry to take steps to determine what measures can be taken to assure that the absence of 120,000 elementary and junior high school students for more than 30 days a year for reasons other than illness and finance will be seen in the future as an aberration.
The U.S. is facing a similar challenge. Despite an increase in the high-school graduation rate to 81 percent, the situation is not as solid as it appears. That's because too many states keep two sets of books. One set uses an inflated graduation rate for federal reporting and a different one at home.