日本語版はこちら

I’m a high school student of Japan. (I’ve been studying English just for three years, so my English may be a little bit awkward...) I would like to run a campaign about the period of school closure in Japan in response to the spread of COVID-19. As of April 5th, 3271 cases of infection have been reported in Japan, and the number of infected people is increasing every day. It seems that there are many group infections as well, and I’m so scared.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe stated that Japan will NOT ask nationwide school closure any more. Isn’t it too late once a group infection happens in schools? How can Japanese Government take responsibility when a children loses his/her precious life due to COVID-19? Also, students who use buses or trains when they go to school will feel so scared in highly crowded vehicle every day. 

Many countries have decided nationwide school closures. For example, Italy will close all schools until June, and France considers extending the school closure to September. Japan should extend the period as well as those countries, for Japan also has a lot of infected people.

I would like to ask Prime Minister Sinzō Abe to extend the period of nationwide school closure for more than 4 weeks for children in Japan throughout this campaign. And please develop the provision of online education system in order to provide students with the opportunity of education.

This campaign may be a small action, and not everyone will agree with this idea. However, I’m so glad if you will support this campaign and understand the anxiety of children in Japan. I believe this action will bring a good difference in the end. And I hope the spread of coronavirus infection will subside all over the world. Thank you for reading.