Photo/Illutration The education ministry (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

More than 8,000 foreign children of elementary and junior high school age in Japan were apparently not receiving a formal education as of May last year, figures show.

Basic resident registers listed 136,923 foreign children of elementary and junior high school age as of May 2022, up 3, 613 from a year earlier.

An education ministry survey of municipal boards of education nationwide found that 8,183 of the children might not be attending school, down about 1,800 from a year earlier.

Specifically, 778 children were not enrolled at elementary and junior high school, including schools for foreign nationals, up 129 from the previous year.

The boards of education were also not able to confirm whether 6,675 children were enrolled mainly because the youngsters were not at home when officials visited. The figure was down 1,922 from the previous year.

In addition, the boards were unaware of the status of 730 children listed on the basic resident registers, down 70 from a year earlier.

While Japanese parents are obligated to place their children in school, legal provisions do not cover foreign nationals.

However, the ministry has called on local education boards to provide schooling opportunities for children of foreign nationals if they wish, based on the International Bill of Human Rights.

The ministry conducted its first survey on the issue in 2019 and found that about 20,000 foreign children might not be attending elementary and junior high school for various reasons.

Daisuke Kodama, director of the education ministry’s International Education Division, cited efforts by education board officials for the falling number of children whose enrollment was not confirmed.

But the fact that there were still about 8,000 children overall who might not be attending school must be taken seriously, he said.

“We want to provide the support the central government can provide,” Kodama said.

Iki Tanaka of the Youth Support Center nonprofit organization was flabbergasted that boards of education failed to keep track of the whereabouts of many foreign children.

The Tokyo-based NPO operates YSC Global School, which provides Japanese language education and learning support to children from overseas.

Tanaka called for a system to confirm whether parents and other guardians who are leaving Japan notified the school that their children had attended.

She also proposed that the government explain enrollment procedures at the time of arrival in Japan and provide information in multiple languages.

“It is a right for children to receive education,” Tanaka said. “It is not something like a favor to be granted,” such as accepting foreign children in schools if they wish.

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