Schoolchildren in Japan With Developmental Disabilities Three Times More Likely to Miss School

From Kyodo via News.jp

September 25 2026

TOKYO – The proportion of elementary and junior high school students identified as having developmental disabilities, such as autism, who were not attending school was 13.26%, more than three times the 3.71% rate for all children, including those without disabilities, a study by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) found on the 25th. Difficulties arising from characteristics such as problems with communication may have contributed to the higher rate, and the ministry said that systematic support in cooperation with specialists is needed.

The study was commissioned by a public-interest incorporated association and conducted online in November and December last year among a randomly selected total of 432 schools nationwide. MEXT published the report in August this year.

Among 9,641 students who were identified as having, or suspected of having, a developmental disability and who met one of the following criteria—(1) were enrolled in a special-needs class; (2) were enrolled in a regular class and used tsukyu resource-room instruction when necessary; or (3) were enrolled in a regular class and had requested or received consultations about support—1,278 were not attending school. Across the overall sample, 4,788 of 129,014 students were not attending school.

When asked in an open-ended section about measures to prevent school non-attendance, respondents suggested measures including providing cards to help children who have difficulty communicating express their feelings and ensuring access to safe places, such as counselling rooms, where children can feel secure.