Tokyo, 28 October, /AJMEDIA/
A total of 244,940 students at elementary and junior high schools across Japan were absent for 30 days or more in fiscal 2021, up 24.9 percent from a year earlier and marking the highest level on record, government data showed Thursday.
A total of 71,704 students absent for 30 days or more due to concerns about COVID-19 infections were not included in the figure.
Even so, the education ministry believes the surge in the number of students absent may be attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cases of bullying recognized by all schools, including high schools and those for students with special needs, also rose 19 percent in the year through March to a record 615,351, according to the results of a ministry survey.
Suicides among elementary, junior high and high school students fell by 47 to 368, said the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
“Restrictions in activities such as sports meets and field trips were believed to have reduced students’ motivation to attend school,” a ministry official said, in reference to the pandemic.
“And there were also reports of difficulties in returning to life’s normal rhythm after it was disrupted by school closures,” the official said.
The ministry also attributed the increase in absentees to the increased likelihood of students choosing places to learn outside of traditional schools.
The number of students who were absent at elementary schools stood at 81,498, representing 1.3 percent of all elementary school students, while at junior high schools it was 163,442, or 5 percent of all junior high school students.
The figures are, respectively, four times and twice the amount from 10 years ago.
The number of students reported as absent at high schools, which are outside the country’s compulsory education system, stood at pre-pandemic levels of around 50,000.
Asked why they were absent, 49.7 percent of the schools cited “apathy and anxiety” of the students, followed by “disruptions to daily life rhythm” at 11.7 percent, and problems with “friendships other than bullying” at 9.7 percent.
Cases of bullying, which had drastically declined in fiscal 2020, returned to pre-pandemic levels, with 500,562 cases at elementary schools, 97,937 cases at junior high schools and 14,157 cases at high schools.
Cyberbullying hit a record high of 21,900 cases.
The education ministry suspects the drop in bullying in fiscal 2020 was due to decreased opportunities for face-to-face interactions, with cases rising again in fiscal 2021 in line with schools reopening for the full year.
The number of serious incidents in which bullying resulted in physical injury or prolonged absence from school increased by 191 from the previous year to 705.
