Japan Education Ministry Records-High Chronic Absenteeism from Elementary, Junior High Schools in 2023 Academic Year

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:03 JST, November 1, 2024

A record high of 346,482 elementary and junior high school students were chronically absent during the 2023 academic year, increasing by 47,434, or 15.9%, from the previous academic year, according to an education ministry survey released Thursday.

The definition of chronic school absenteeism is when a student is absent from school for 30 days or more in a year without such reasons as illness or economic difficulties. This is the first time for the figure to exceed 300,000.

The number of bullying cases recognized in elementary, junior high and high schools also hit a record-high 732,568, including a record number of “severe bullying cases” that caused life-threatening effects, mental and physical harm or long-term chronic absenteeism, the survey found.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry conducts a survey on problematic behavior and chronic school absenteeism in public and private elementary, junior high and high schools and special schools every year. The number of chronically absent students increased in both elementary and junior high schools, reaching 130,370 in elementary schools and 216,112 in junior high schools, up 24% and 11.4% from the previous academic year, respectively. Both amounts increased for the 11th consecutive year.

Chronic absenteeism in elementary and junior high schools surged in the 2021 academic year during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to trend upward. “Some students find it difficult to rebuild their daily routine that was disrupted by the pandemic, while an increasing number of parents and guardians do not think they need to force their children to go to school,” a ministry official said.

Of the bullying cases recognized in elementary, junior high, high and other schools, the majority, or 58.7%, were related to “ridiculing, teasing, name-calling and threatening.”

The number of online bullying cases using computers and smartphones also reached a record-high of 24,678, up 758 from the previous academic year. Online bullying is believed to be on the rise because more elementary, junior high and high school students own their own smartphones. Victims suffered bullying such as name-calling on social media and their photos being edited and spread online without permission.

The number of “severe bullying cases” increased 42.1% from the previous year to 1,306, the highest ever recorded. Of them, 490 cases, or 37.5%, had not been recognized by schools as bullying until serious damage took place.

The number of suicides by elementary, junior high and high school students declined by 14 from the previous year to 397, although the number has remained high since hitting a peak of 415 in the 2020 academic year.