In Japan, children often bring home a steady stream of printed notices from school.
These can include general school announcements, class or grade-level newsletters, event schedules, lists of things to bring, lunch information, health notices, dismissal times, and forms that need to be returned.
Japanese parents may also think, “That is a lot of paper.” Even so, many simply accept it as part of how schools work.
The main reason is not that Japanese schools especially prefer paper. It is that schools have traditionally divided information into many separate notices and sent each one home in writing.
Some notices come from the whole school, while others come from a particular grade, class, health office, or lunch program. Because each is sent when it is needed, the result can easily be several separate sheets of paper.
Paper also has practical advantages. A notice can be handed to every child at school and sent home through the same system. If a parent needs to sign something, give permission, or provide information, the same sheet can be filled out and returned.
Another reason is that families do not all have the same internet access, devices, or habits when it comes to checking apps and email. If communication is digital only, schools cannot assume that every household will receive and notice information in exactly the same way.
By handing the same printed notice to everyone, the school can at least say that the same information was distributed to all students.
This can also help reduce misunderstandings. Parents may miss an app notification or forget to check a message. For important information, using paper as well can give schools another way to make sure the message has been sent.
Of course, paper has its own problems. Children may forget to take notices out of their school bags, lose them, or be unable to find them later when they are needed.
That is why the system is gradually changing.
Japan’s Ministry of Education has introduced examples of schools moving class newsletters and other notices online, as well as using digital systems for absence reports and communication with parents. Many families now receive school notices through apps or PDF files.
At the same time, not everything needs to disappear from paper. Some schools still keep things such as dismissal schedules or school lunch menus on paper because they are useful to post somewhere at home, while moving other notices online.
So the large number of printed notices in Japanese schools is not simply a sign that schools have been slow to go digital.
For many years, schools have tried to send detailed information home in small, separate pieces and make sure the same message is sent to every family. Paper became part of that system, and it has also helped schools deal with differences between households and reduce communication gaps.
References
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, “Letters and Notices for Parents”
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, “Sharing Information with Families Through Class Newsletters”
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, “Digital Communication Between Schools and Parents”
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, “Reference Materials for Promoting Digital Transformation in School Administration”
