Among the foreign children currently living in Japan, some attend schools for foreign students. Most such schools are miscellaneous schools or unauthorized facilities where standards related to health and hygiene for Article 1 schools* do not apply. (*Article 1 schools are schools in Japan operating according to Article 1 of the School Education Act.) The COVID-19 pandemic, however, created the need for efforts to improve the health and hygiene environment in schools for foreign students.
In response to this situation, MEXT has endeavored to improve the health and hygiene environment in such schools by launching the Project for Improving the Health and Hygiene Environment in Schools for Foreign Students in 2022, communicating appropriate information to schools for foreign students and developing a consultation system.
As one initiative under this project, MEXT has set up the Health and Hygiene Information Website for Schools for Foreign Students where it posts detailed information to address the worries and concerns of the teachers and staff of such schools, including response to heat-related illness and COVID-19 infection following its reclassification as a Category V infectious disease.
MEXT’s Health and Hygiene Information Website for Schools for Foreign Students
