Covid-19 and Education on the Front Lines in Japan: What Caused Learning Disparities and How Did the Government and Schools Take Initiative?

Abstract

While the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to the education system of Japan, the government and schools took necessary measures to combat the outbreak and ensure student learning continued. The temporary school closure, following the state of emergency, continued for 2 months, from April through May of 2020. Even after the declaration was lifted in May 2020, schools adopted the new-normal way of operations. By shortening the summer break and holding alternative classes, elementary, junior, and senior high schools, except for universities, returned to normal while the COVID-19 pandemic was settling down, and ended the semester regularly in December 2020. The temporary closure, however, led to a huge disparity in implementing online classes, depending on availability of personal laptops in schools. Many private schools, and a substantial number of public schools established by innovative local governments, such as Saga Prefecture and Shibuya Ward, were successful in transitioning to online learning. However, most public schools were unable to hold online courses due to the lack of facilities both in schools and at student households. Aware of the disparities, the government brought forward a policy initiative to distribute personal PCs to all elementary and junior high school students, and to supply high-speed IT networks to each school, with an expected completion of March 2021. In this chapter, we will explore various disparities in depth, particularly underlining the relationship between ICT environments in schools and the issue of school founders. Additionally, we provide an overview on how the government and schools coped with the crisis, capitalized on the policy initiatives, and utilized available resources. As a concluding remark, we aim to leave room for optimism by taking this pandemic as an opportunity to reconsider and reimagine education. Note: This chapter has nothing to do with operations of organizations that respective authors belong to, and the views expressed in this chapter do not represent organizations’, but are authors’ own.