Education under Neoliberalism in Japan: COVID-19 and the Readiness of Online Class in Japan

• In Event: Leadership, Governance and the Globalization of Education: Future Forming and Situated Analyses

Proposal

An Overview of Japan’s Response to COVID-19 School Closure and Online Class

With the advent of the digital society, the use of Internet technology, including mobile phones in and out of school, has dramatically increased in Japan. The Internet usage has both positive and negative effects on children, but enhancing the more basic communication abilities, such as social skills and other factors, which are not peculiar to the Internet, are equally important (Takahira, Ando, and Sakamoto, 2012).

Despite the potentials and Japan’s relatively high Internet penetration rate of 83% (World Bank, 2021), access to the Internet is uneven. The Internet connectivity at home is over 80% for the rich children of 3-17 year-olds, and just over 60% for the poor counterpart (UNESCO, 2023). The COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the education sector due to the unpreparedness of schools to face sudden changes. Basic education is far behind in using technology as a learning media, compared to higher education, and there was an increase in cases of child violence and child suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic (Isha, S. and Wibawarta, B, 2023). Japan’s low levels of computer usage in educational institutions and reliance on traditional methods are also noted (Healy, S. 2021). About one in twenty Japanese children lack the amenities necessary for online learning, such as a quiet study space, a computer, or textbooks, and also Japan lags significantly behind other OECD countries in the ability to effectively incorporate ICT into school curriculum (Fraser, 2020).

According to a survey by the education ministry in April 2020, few Japanese public schools were able to adapt to the change: only 5% of local governing bodies across the country planned online class, but schools were shut due to the pandemic. Responding to this, public-private partnership was developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, involving top three mobile phone companies, which would eliminate some additional charges for data plans for users aged 25 and under, and the partnership between the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Rakuten supported schools in installing high-speed Internet and provided students in need with laptops or tablets for accessing the internet (Fraser, 2020). Learning management systems have become a multibillion dollar global business around the world, including in Japan (UNESCO, 2023). However, teachers felt that their teaching was hampered by the lack of digital technology, and teacher training in the use of ICT was insufficient (UNESCO, 2023).

Fujikawa (2020) asserts, “while prolonged school closures should have been the perfect opportunity to take classes online, few Japanese schools embraced distance learning, revealing cultural hurdles.” In fact, the problem was not only cultural hurdles, but there were other factors, that led to this sudden change. I will focus on the neoliberal policy introduced in the 1980s and 1990s, which influenced the decision making that led to this current situation.

The problem of the sudden announcement

On February 27 2020, Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, asked schools closure nationwide from March 2 until the beginning of the new school year in April. Meanwhile, some school teachers expressed concern about the prime minister’s request as they had to adjust classes and event schedules, as well as other issues as how to determine grades (Kyodo News, 2020). In April 2021. Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura indicated that he would ask the central government to declare a fresh state of emergency in Osaka Prefecture amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. The Osaka Mayor, Ichiro Matsui, said that classes at public elementary and junior high schools in the city would be held online in principle once a state of emergency is issued. On May 17, 2021, Takashi Kubo, an elementary school principal in Osaka, sent a letter of recommendation, citing the chaos that was occurring in schools, to Osaka Mayor, who supported the implementation of all online classes to prevent the spread of COVID-19. On August 20, 2021, Mr. Kubo was given a written warning for damaging the credibility of his position as an educational public servant (Kubo, 2022).

The problem of the decision making

The problem of the top-down decision making without consultation with the schools was not new. In 2011, Toru Hashimoto became mayor of Osaka, and in 2012 “the Basic Ordinance on Education Administration" and “the School Revitalization Ordinance" were enacted. At the same time, thorough crackdown was carried out on teachers' unions. The political intervention in education was openly taking place, and the independence of education was taken away. Kubo stated, “The teachers at schools, do not exist to achieve the numerical targets set out in the Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education. Our job is to be involved in the growth of each child in front of us, and we are directly responsible not to the mayor, but to the children…” Kubo believes, that the problem lies in “the Basic Ordinance on Education Administration" and “the School Revitalization Ordinance," which created this governance structure, and they need to be reviewed. If we trace the origin of this, we arrive at the revision of “the Fundamental Law of Education" in 2006. The teachers' union has become very small now, but Kubo asserts it is a mistake to think that “the work style reform" will be carried out by management (Kubo, 2022).

Justification of the research

Schools were imposed online class without consultation on the ground. Drawing from the experiences of the case in Osaka, this paper addresses the experiences of learners and educators as digital technology, which is increasing influencing our society, by highlighting the decision-making process and its consequences. Specifically, it reviews what the experiences of learners and educators were, when digital technology was introduced as a response to COVID-19 measure; how the decision on school closure and online class were made; how we include these experiences in our understanding of how we might envision with or without digital technology at the forefront; and how can we envision teaching and teacher education in a digital society.

Author

• Akemi Yonemura, UNFCU