On December 26, 2022, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) released the survey results on barrier-free school facilities.

With the amendment of the " Act on the Promotion of Smooth Transportation, etc. for Elderly Persons, Persons with Disabilities, etc." in May 2020, public elementary and lower secondary schools were added to the list of specially designated buildings*. In addition, the supplementary resolution of the amended Act includes a requirement that public elementary and junior high schools, even existing ones, become barrier-free by setting numerical targets.

* Specially designated buildings: used by an unspecified large number of people or used mainly by the elderly, persons with disabilities, specified by a Cabinet Order as being particularly necessary to facilitate mobility.

Based on this, the MEXT has set a target for schools to be barrier-free by the end of FY2025 and has requested that authorities in the public elementary and lower secondary schools accelerate their efforts to make their schools barrier-free.

The current survey aims to ascertain the progress in making school facilities barrier-free, including public elementary and lower secondary school facilities, and to provide essential data to promote initiatives following the survey conducted in FY2020.

The survey targets national and public elementary, lower secondary, and special-needs education schools as of September 1, 2022, and is about policies on barrier-free school facilities and the status of barrier-free equipment in school facilities.

The following is the status of barrier-free school buildings from the survey results:

Status of Barrier-Free School Buildings

For more information, please visit the website below:
https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/mext_01164.html