A City in Japan Uses Robots to Stop Students from Missing School
A city in southwestern Japan plans to use robots to facilitate virtual student attendance.
The robots also address rising truancy rates caused by anxiety and bullying.
Robots equipped with microphones, speakers, and cameras will enable two-way communication and will be introduced to classrooms in November.
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The Kumamoto City Board of Education says this kind of initiative is rare in Japan.
The aim is to reduce anxiety for children who have missed school and plan to return to class. Children can use devices at home to drive robots that represent them at school remotely. So they can participate in classes and discuss with schoolmates, says the southern city of Kumamoto.
Like other countries, Japan has seen more children missing school due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They are missing school because of difficulties adjusting to bullying.
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The one-meter (three-foot) tall robots can walk independently, and students can move them around the school grounds and even participate in events.
"Communicating through these robots is not quite like the real world, but it can at least give a sense of reality to children who are hesitant and afraid to interact with others. We hope this effort will help alleviate their psychological fears," said Maki Yoshizato, a Kumamoto city official.
According to the latest education ministry survey across Japan, truant elementary and middle school students reached an all-time high of 244,940 in fiscal 2021.
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"It's important to provide more options to students who can't attend school to study," said Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi." loading="" width="351" height="624">
The robot initiative Kumamoto hopes to launch in early November, pending budget approval, comes after the tech-savvy city launched a virtual classroom in the "metaverse" to tackle truancy.
"It's important to provide more options to students who can't attend school to study," said Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi.
The robot initiative Kumamoto hopes to launch in early November, pending budget approval, comes after the tech-savvy city launched a virtual classroom in the \"metaverse\" to tackle truancy.\"It\'s important to provide more options to students who can\'t attend school to study,\" said Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi.
