In September last 2022, the United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommended that Japan cease special-needs education, saying that children with disabilities are being segregated from students in regular classrooms.
It has been revealed that the female principal of a special needs school in Mie Prefecture told a teacher who consulted her about how to interact with students, “You should just treat them like you would treat a dog.’’
The female principal of a special needs school admits that her comments to her teacher were inappropriate.
The Ministry of Justice has decided to revise the treatment guidelines for staff members in juvenile training schools in the next fiscal year in order to strengthen support for juveniles with developmental disabilities. Many juveniles have developmental challenges due to developmental disabilities or abuse, but without appropriate support, they often become delinquent. The new guidelines will provide more guidance to promote the growth of these juveniles according to their individual characteristics and help them smoothly adjust to life in society after discharge from the hospital.
A record high 953 teachers at public schools left jobs for mental health reasons in the 2021 academic year, up 171 from the previous survey in 2018, a recent poll by the education ministry showed.
Ministry officials say long working hours is one of the factors behind the rise in the number of teachers quitting jobs at public elementary schools, junior high schools and senior high schools.
Yuko Kadoshita, a visiting researcher at Toyo University, conducted the survey in 2021. 466 people responded, with 5.6% saying that dating is “prohibited” and 63.3% saying that “it is not prohibited but there are rules. 30.0% said “no ban and no rules.”
According to the prefectural education board, on Dec. 7, 2022, a 44-year-old teacher tied a second grader with intellectual disabilities to a chair by binding his arms and waist with a long jump rope because the boy stood up and walked around during lunchtime. When the rope became loose, the teacher reportedly tied him up again and secured the boy in place.
More students than a decade ago are being identified by their teachers as likely having a developmental disability, meaning they require extra classroom support, according to data released by the education ministry.
The man claims that from around July to October 2017, when he was in his first year of junior high school, he was bullied by six students in the same class, resulting in an adjustment disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, forcing him to change schools. The man is seeking approximately 12 million yen in damages from the school.
The incident arose after the then first-grade student ate the teacher’s lunch while she was absent from the classroom during a break. When the teacher learned what had happened, she attached a note of apology to the student’s back and walked him around the school for about 20 minutes.
Parents of children enrolled in Osaka Prefecture’s special education programs lodged a human rights complaint through the Osaka Bar Association on Oct. 31, citing the education ministry’s separate classroom policy.
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