Barriers to Education for Migrant Children in Japan at Mainstream Schools: From a Rights-based Perspective

抄録

In recent years, Japan has seen a steady rise of migrants and their children. The increase in the number and variety of people coming in as migrants has diversified their needs, including those related to the education of their children. Despite Japan's signing of various human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to what extent has the country been able to consider the reality of migrant children in its mainstream schools? Through the review of existing literature and policy, this paper discusses some of the major educational barriers to the pursuit of mainstream education by migrant children in Japan. The paper uses the 4As framework with its various sets of indicators to analyze these factors. This paper reveals that mainstream education in Japan is generally available, moderately accessible, unevenly acceptable, and barely adaptable to the diverse needs of migrant children. The legal ambiguity of domestic education policies and the lack of social infrastructures, as well as a lack of teacher training aimed at understanding migrants' diverse needs diminishes the availability of public education for migrant children. Similarly, administrative inaccessibility and the fear of unsafe learning environments affect the access of public educational institutions by migrant families. Despite their varying backgrounds, the form and substance of education throughout the country is rigidly consistent, which impedes the full enjoyment of the right to education (RTE) of migrant children. Finally, the stereotype of labelling foreigners as gaijin in different facets of Japanese society makes mainstream education less adaptable to their lived realities.