The outcomes of a survey carried out by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) point out that 299,048 elementary and junior highschool college students throughout the nation had been in non-attendance within the 2022 tutorial yr, representing a rise of 54,108 college students (22.1%) from the earlier yr.
This marks the tenth consecutive yr of improve and continues to set new highs.
MEXT attributes this escalation to elements such because the extended impression of the COVID-19 pandemic, modifications in residing environments, disrupted each day routines, and varied restrictions in class life, all of which can have affected college students’ motivation to attend college.
The variety of acknowledged bullying instances in elementary, junior excessive, and excessive colleges reached 681,948, which is a rise of 66,597 instances (10.8%) from the earlier yr, setting a brand new document excessive. This improve is believed to be partly because of the resumption of extracurricular actions and college occasions, resulting in elevated interactions amongst college students amid the continued results of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A document 923 instances had been categorized as “serious incidents of bullying,” a rise of 217 instances (30.7%) from the earlier yr. Out of the intense bullying instances (923 instances), 357 instances (38.7%) had been initially not acknowledged as bullying. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) believes that this means ongoing challenges in colleges’ recognition of bullying incidents.
Additionally, the variety of college students who reported suicide throughout all colleges elevated by 43 folks in comparison with the earlier yr, reaching a severe scenario that’s near the document excessive of 415 folks within the 2020 tutorial yr, with a complete of 411 college students.
For the primary time, a survey on “suicide due to corporal punishment and inappropriate instruction by educators,” generally referred to as “instructional deaths,” was carried out, leading to one case in elementary college and one case in highschool.