Aichi schools' field trip plans upended by spread of COVID-19
As the number of COVID-19 infections surge, especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area, many junior high schools in Aichi Prefecture have been forced to change their school trip schedules, which are typically held in the spring with third-year students traveling to the Kanto region, ...
Free school lunches to start year early in Osaka due to coronavirus
Osaka city approved a plan Wednesday that will make it the first major city in Japan to offer free school lunches to all students at municipal elementary and junior high schools, as part of its economic measures to ease the burden on parents in ...
Experts raise doubts that Japan school closures will curb coronavirus
Public health experts are concerned the move may turn out to be counterproductive.
Japan to hire 1,726 more teachers in 2020 for elementary and junior high schools
The government will increase its employment quota for teachers at public elementary and junior high schools by 1,726 in fiscal 2020. The measure, included in the fiscal 2020 budget that was approved Friday, is designed to promote work-style reforms for teachers and better respond to ...
Aichi city hires non-Japanese assistants to support foreign children at elementary schools
During a recent math class at an elementary school in Aichi Prefecture, Kamila Tamy Tida Miyamoto, 31, a Brazilian school assistant, pointed to the textbooks of Aika and Ayumi, second-grade Brazilian students who enrolled this year, as she explained concepts to them in Portuguese. Currently, ...
Girls wrestle in the Wanpaku sumo ring for the first time ever
It was a historic weekend for sumo in Japan as the first-ever Wanpaku national championships for elementary school-age girls took place at Okudo Sogo Sports Center in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward on Sunday. Previously, girls who had won through regional qualifying events were unable to take ...
Education ministry to review smartphone ban for elementary and junior high school students
The education ministry will consider reviewing a ban on elementary and junior high school students carrying smartphones and other mobile phones at school, education minister Masahiko Shibayama said Tuesday. "We'll consider reviewing the notice (that included the smartphone ban) in the light of changes in ...
Teaching materials for third-year students who attended Kokumin Gakko (equivalent to a modern-day elementary school) in Aichi Prefecture during the Pacific War have been discovered in Aisai, Aichi Prefecture. Believed to have been used for summer homework, the materials recommend students visit injured soldiers, pay ...
Native English speakers in demand as Japanese teachers hone their language skills for new curricula
More and more elementary school teachers in Japan are turning to English language schools with native speakers, as they seek to gain confidence in teaching the language before it is formally added to their curricula in the academic year starting April 2020. Many teachers admit ...
Olympic organizers send details on mascot contest to elementary schools nationwide
The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee distributed information to the nation's elementary schools on Monday ahead of the vote for the official mascot. Postcards were sent to over 21,000 schools with details about the voting process so children can participate in the process beginning next month. The ...
Saitama teacher tells fourth-grader to jump out window after classroom disturbance
Board of education in city of Tokorozawa considers disciplinary action after homeroom teacher admits to comments, apologizes
Third-graders can get head start on English classes from fiscal 2018
Elementary schools will be allowed to start English classes from third grade instead of fifth grade when fiscal 2018 begins next April, the education ministry said Friday. The measure is aimed at achieving a smooth transition to the ministry's new fiscal 2020 curriculum guidelines, said ...
