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Six Percent of Foreign children registered in Japan do not attend school

By on April 24, 2023

Foreign children registered as residents in Japan were not or may not have been receiving compulsory education according to a recent survey by the Ministry of Education. Records reveal there are a total of 8,183 children not attending school as of fiscal year 2022.

Compulsory education in Japan is 9 years from elementary to  junior high school. Typically, children in Japan must start school by the age of six and remain enrolled until they are at least 16.

Compared to the previous survey in 2021, the number of elementary and junior high school-aged children that do not receive formal education in 2022 has decreased by 1,863, or 18.5 percent.

Japan’s education ministry attributes the decrease to stepped-up initiatives by regional education boards in tracking foreign children and monitoring school enrollment status by providing parents with school enrollment information.

The survey which covers education boards in 1,741 municipality across the country, is the third since the ministry began record-keeping in fiscal 2019.

As of May 2022, there are 96,214 foreign residents eligible for elementary education and 40,709  junior high schools with an increase by 3,613 children from 2021 records.

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