Statement Calling to Guarantee Foreign Students an Equal Opportunity to Receive Education
A recent news report revealed that, in September 2024, the Saitama City Board of Education expelled a Kurdish sixth-grade student holding Turkish nationality living in the city from her elementary school after her and her family were refused refugee status, resulting in them losing their residence status. The report also revealed that the student was later reinstated on January 30th, 2025. However, the Board’s decision to expel the student caused her to miss an opportunity to receive education for about five months as she was nearing graduation from the school.
Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of which Japan has ratified, guarantee equal opportunities for all children to receive primary education, regardless of race, nationality, residence status, and other characteristics. Education is the foundation on which people grow, develop and form their own personalities. Guaranteeing the opportunity to receive education is an important human right in itself and serves as the basis for fully guaranteeing other human rights (see General Comment No.13, adopted by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, contained in document E/C.12/1999/10).
In light of guaranteeing children an equal opportunity to receive education, the written response by the Prime Minister dated December 16th, 2011 states that publicly-run compulsory education schools in Japan are to accept foreign students who wish to study free of charge, regardless of residence status, in the same way as they do with Japanese students. Furthermore, in the notice issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on July 5th, 2012, the government requests a flexible approach by local education boards in addressing matters in the school enrollment application process for foreign students without a residence card or other forms of identification by means such as verifying their place of residence and other information using documents that can be deemed as reliable to some extent as a further effort to ensure an opportunity to receive education for foreign students.
The Board’s decision to expel the student clearly violated the above regulations and national policy. Although the decision was later withdrawn, the emotional wound suffered by the student and her family due to her being deprived of elementary school education for about five months is immeasurable.
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (the "JFBA") adopted its "Declaration Calling for the Introduction of a New System to Accept Foreign Workers and the Establishment of a New Society in which People from Various National Backgrounds can Live Together" at the 61st JFBA Convention on the Protection of Human Rights held on October 5th, 2018, where the JFBA declares that all human beings are entitled to enjoy the human rights set forth under the Constitution and international human rights laws, regardless of their nationality, and regardless of what kind of residence status they possess, and it is imperative that human rights should not be easily restricted based on their nationality and ethnic backgrounds, on account of the current state policy or the interests of employers. The same applies to children’s right to education. It is extremely regrettable that the Board made the decision to expel the student in the first place.
For these reasons, the JFBA urges the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, as well as local education boards across the country, to conduct an urgent investigation to find any occurrence of similar cases and take immediate measures as necessary. The JFBA also calls for guaranteeing foreign students, in addition to students and children with foreign national backgrounds, an equal opportunity to receive education, regardless of race and residence status, without being subject to discrimination, through thoroughly raising awareness of the Convention and the purpose of the aforementioned notice and other policies among people working in education.
February 19th, 2025
Reiko Fuchigami
President, Japan Federation of Bar Associations