14,000 Fukushima children change schools in wake of quake, nuclear crisis
Some 14,000 children who attended public elementary and junior high
schools in Fukushima Prefecture before the Great East Japan earthquake,
tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis have since changed schools or will
change schools during the summer holiday, it has been learned.
A survey by the Fukushima Prefectural Board of Education found that
1,081 students are due to move out of the prefecture during the current
summer holiday. Fears about radiation were cited in three-quarters of
these cases. After the outbreak of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1
Nuclear Power Plant, many students moved out of evacuation zones within
a 30 kilometer radius of the plant, but there are reportedly now more
children moving out of nonrestricted areas of central Fukushima Prefecture.
Education board officials said that as of July 15, 7,672 students had
moved out of the prefecture in the wake of the disaster, while about
4,500 students had moved to other schools in the prefecture. A total of
755 plan to move to other schools within Fukushima Prefecture during the
summer holidays, in addition to the 1,081 who are due to move outside
the prefecture.
"There are probably many people who decided to wait until the end of the
first term to switch schools, considering the burden on their children,"
a prefectural education board representative commented.
Figures from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology show that about 165,000 students were enrolled at public
elementary or junior high schools in Fukushima Prefecture as of May 1
this year. About one-tenth of these students were forced to switch
schools in the wake of the disaster. Including students at private
schools, high school students and young children who have not yet
started school, the number of “evacuated” minors is even higher.
Since the outbreak of the ongoing nuclear crisis, many schools within a
30 kilometer radius of the stricken nuclear plant have been holding
lessons in the buildings of other schools. Analysis by the prefectural
board of education found that over half of the 12,000 or so students who
had moved schools as of July 15 were originally attending schools
located within 30 kilometers of the nuclear power plant. The latest
survey was conducted in line with the end of the first term of the
school year.
Meanwhile, about half of the students due to transfer to other schools
within Fukushima Prefecture during the summer holidays cited a move to a
temporary housing unit or another accommodation facility as the reason.
There were also cases in the prefectural city of Soma in which children
returned to their homes from places to which they had earlier evacuated.
Mainichi Shimbun , August 9, 2011