Japan

A little look at another nation's problems.

Preschool Demand Soaring
01/10/2006The Asahi Shimbun

Despite the falling birthrate, record numbers of children are being enrolled in nursery school, pushing capacity beyond the breaking point, a health ministry survey said.

A record 2.09 million children were enrolled in nursery schools in 2004, up 2.1 percent, or about 42,000, from the year before, according to the health ministry's survey.

Although capacity also rose 34,000, or 1.7 percent, it was not enough to meet the demand, and more than 20,000 preschoolers were left on the waiting list.

By way of explanation, the ministry pointed to the fact that despite the falling birthrate, more parents are now working full-time while raising children.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's survey was conducted on 22,494 government-authorized public and private nursery schools across the nation in October 2004.

To tackle the waiting list problem, the ministry has allowed schools to take on 15 percent more children than their capacity.

In 2004, 2,090,374 children were enrolled, versus a total capacity of only 2,029,201.

That brings the ratio of enrolled children to capacity to 103 percent, the fourth year in a row it has broken the 100-percent threshold.

Capacity is rising steadily, and has done so for six straight years, but it still cannot keep up with demand.

When the waiting list hit 35,000 in 2001, the government began a campaign to reduce that number to zero.

Its efforts have resulted in an additional 156,000 children being admitted to nursery schools since the start of the campaign.

But as of April 2005, 23,000 children remained on the waiting list, the ministry said.

Under the 2004 "Angel Plan," a national project to promote child-rearing that is renewed every five years, the government intends to bring the total capacity of nursery schools to 2.15 million by fiscal 2009.(IHT/Asahi: January 10,2006)