On July 29, 2021, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) released the results of the Fiscal Year 2020 Survey on the Current Status of School Libraries.
MEXT has conducted this survey through prefectural boards of education and other relevant organizations for administrative reference.
The survey covers compulsory and secondary education schools, i.e., elementary, lower secondary, upper secondary, special-needs education. In addition, it finds out about the status of school libraries in terms of human and material resources and utilization and reading activities. A summary of the survey results is as follows.
In relation to children with disabilities, the percentage (%) of schools that have a diverse collection of books is as follows.
|
E-books |
Braille Books |
Enlarged Books etc. |
Recorded Books |
Multi-media DAISY Books |
Elementary |
0.2 |
42.5 |
15.5 |
5.2 |
1.3 |
Lower secondary |
0.3 |
19.6 |
16.5 |
5.7 |
1.0 |
Upper secondary |
1.4 |
12.3 |
8.7 |
10.9 |
0.6 |
For more information, please visit the following websites (in Japanese only) https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/dokusho/link/1410430_00001.htm