Tokyo schools facing surge in student numbers

With an increasing number of people choosing to live in central Tokyo, primary schools in the capital are expected to be filled to capacity and suffer from a shortage of classrooms, prompting many Tokyo ward governments to look for extra classrooms in preparation for the surge of students.

The number of primary school children in Tokyo's 23 wards had been declining until 2001 for 22 years and many primary schools were closed or merged. However, more and more young families have moved to central Tokyo.

Minato Ward is planning to build a prefabricated school building and will borrow classrooms from a middle school, while Arakawa Ward will build a new primary school for the first time in half a century.

The number of primary school children in the 23 wards peaked in 1958 at 855,869--the baby boomer generation born between 1947 and 1949--and the number fell steadily from that point. Many primary schools have merged or closed since the 1990s, including some that were established during the Meiji era (1868-1912).

However, the number of primary school-age children started to rise in 2002, with the increase in housing development. According to a Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education estimate, the number of children in public primary schools in the 23 wards will hit 356,683 by 2011, an increase of almost 10,500 from the current figure. The increase will be most noticeable in the center of Tokyo, as the number in the Tama district, a suburban area outside the 23 wards, will only increase by a projected 642.

The ward that expects the largest increase is Minato Ward, with the number of children estimated to rise by 2,688 in five years, the equivalent of 67 classes. Konan Primary School is planning to build a prefabricated building with the principal's room and teachers room in the playground at its waterfront location and is planning to borrow classrooms from nearby Konan Middle School.

In Koto Ward, which also covers the waterfront area, Toyosu-Kita Primary School will open in the Toyosu redevelopment district in April. Toyosu Primary School, about 500 meters south of the new school, is full to its capacity of 17 classes, and 80 children living a few minutes' walk away from the school have to take a 10-minute bus ride to a different primary school.

Close to Toyosu-Kita Primary School, an apartment complex containing more than 6,000 units is scheduled to be built in five years.

Koto Ward restricts the construction of apartment buildings in six school districts, including that of Toyosu Primary School. However, according to the metropolitan board of education, the number of children in the ward will jump by 25.4 percent in the next five years.

The ward office has started looking at land on which to build schools, but one official pointed out that "building a school costs about 2 billion yen to 3 billion yen."

Arakawa Ward plans to open a new school in a few years, as space is scarce at Shioiri Primary School due to developments close to Minami Senju Station. It will be the first new public school in a Tokyo ward since 1959.
(Oct. 7, 2006)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061007TDY02006.htm