One year ago at this time I received an email from my son’s school announcing its closure effective the following week due to then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s sudden decision to call on schools nationwide to shut down in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19.
Working closely with the faculty, PTA and students, the school’s leadership was able to switch to online teaching over the weekend, and classes began relatively smoothly that Monday, March 2. At that time, I was in Washington, for a conference on the 60th anniversary of the revised U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, watching in admiration and appreciation for the rapid way in which the school handled the transition from traditional in-person classes to online, remote ones.
Not all schools and students were this lucky, however, due to a lack of personal computers or tablets, connectivity and a conducive study environment at home, as well as a similar lack of software, equipment and skill sets at the schools.