English
After the outbreak of the pandemic, schools around the world have been forced to switch to a remote learning format. More than 1.5 billion students were unable to attend classes in person.
Consequently, many countries have started online lessons. However, compared to Europe, Japan has sluggishly adapted to the new educational environment.
For example, the Kitasuwa elementary school in Tokyo was unable to immediately switch to an online format, which caused it to be closed for several weeks. Instead, students were given printed materials for self-study at home.
The teachers themselves rejected the online alternative because of concerns about inequality (not all students have a computer and Internet access at home).
Japanese teachers stressed that they are well aware of the benefits of remote learning, but at the moment, not everyone has the opportunity to switch to it. The schools do not provide computers for all students.
According to Professor Keio Naako, Japanese schools have not previously shown an interest in switching to e-education. For this reason, they were ill-prepared for the pandemic and the crisis in general.
According to research, only 5% of educational institutions in the country have enough resources to conduct online lessons during the pandemic. Nevertheless, most of them still plan to transfer their children to a home-based learning format using textbooks and printed materials.
