[Question]My fifth-grade child is coming to Japan to live with me. What school options are available for him?

[Answer]

Children coming from overseas have several options to choose from when it comes to elementary schools – public schools, private schools, international schools including ethnic schools.

If you wish to send your son to a public school, first, you need to go to the board of education of the city he will register Alien Registration to talk with officials at its education affairs section. Afterward, they will send you a “notice of school entrance” and an “admission to school entrance/transfer,” and let you know when and which school to visit. You and your son will need to visit the school for interview. If you cannot communicate in Japanese, an interpreter may be arranged for the interview.

If you wish to enroll your child to a private school, you need to talk to the school directly since each school has different admission policy. Most of the private schools accept students based on tests/interview results.

International schools are privately-run schools for foreign and Japanese children, which offer classes in English or other languages. School operations are diverse -- from legally incorporated educational institutes to unrecognized entities, and a majority of them are classified as schools in the “miscellaneous” category under the Japanese education system. If you wish to send him to such a school in the middle of the school year, check each school to see if they have vacancies to accept students.

Tuition for public elementary and junior high schools is free but you still have to pay for expenses for materials, school trips and club activities. Financial aid for low-income students is available upon application. Private schools and international schools collect tuitions.  

[Question]Our child, who cannot speak Japanese at all, will be transferred from his junior high school back home to a public junior high school in Japan. Will some support be available to him?

[Answer]

  At public elementary and junior high schools in Osaka, Japanese language instruction is mainly provided by regular classroom teachers and can be supplemented by interpreters and classroom supporters dispatched from the board of education. Primary training courses for Japanese language education are offered to such teachers and supporters to equip them with skills necessary to teach Japanese to international students. Osaka City has set up several Japanese language center schools to accept students who have difficulty in understanding Japanese. Upon request, interpreters are available for parent-teacher conferences and other occasions.