Aichi Elementary School Apologies for Publishing Information about ‘Special Needs’ Students

From The Yomiuri Shimbun

February 8 2024

Toyota City, Aichi Pref –  It announced on February 7th that an elementary school in Toyota city had listed the disabilities of the children in special needs classes along with their names on their websites Although the city had obtained the approval of the parents for the information to be posted, the city’s School Education Division stated, “This was inappropriate handling of personal information and a lack of consideration. The city’s School Education Division deleted the information and apologized to the parents, saying, “It was inappropriate for the handling of personal information, and we were not considerate enough.”

The information was in a “class newsletter” prepared by the teacher in charge of the class, which contained the names of 22 students and the information of several homeroom teachers. The homeroom teacher’s information included the type of disability for which he or she was responsible, and a citizen pointed out that it might be possible to analogize the children’s disabilities.