Abstract
This study looks at students attending a free school in the Chikuho District of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The paper examines the situation of school dropout children from economically disadvantaged families and suggests strategies to support these children. In this district, the ratio of welfare recipients exceeds the national average by ten times and more than 50% of the children going to the free school live in households on welfare. Moreover, 70% of these children are at such low scholastic attainment levels that they face numerous obstacles even if returned to their former school. In addition, many of them live in single-parent families (42%) , and in families with mentally or intellectually handicapped parents (25%). The study finds that the educational deprivation is considered to be the main problem for school dropout children from disadvantaged families, and suggests a framework for setting up comprehensive compensatory education systems. The methods of collaboration with parents are also discussed.
