On August 23, 2023, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced the preliminary figures of the FY2023 School Basic Survey.

MEXT has conducted the Basic School Survey annually since FY1948 to obtain basic data on schools necessary for administering school education.

The survey covers kindergartens, certified centers for early childhood education and care, primary schools, lower secondary schools, compulsory education schools, upper secondary schools, secondary education schools, schools for special needs education, universities, junior colleges, colleges of technology, specialized training colleges, and miscellaneous schools, as well as municipal boards of education. A sample survey was conducted on the state of affairs as of May 1, 2023.

The factors released this time include the number of schools, classes, students enrolled in each type of school, and teaching staff. The results of all factors will be released as final figures in December.

The main points of the results for primary and secondary educational institutions, specialized training colleges, and miscellaneous schools are as follows:

• <Number of students enrolled>
  • Kindergartens: 842,000 preschoolers, a decrease of 82,000 from the previous year.
  • Certified centers for early childhood education and care: 843,000 preschoolers, an increase of 22,000 from the previous year and the most significant number ever.
  • Primary schools: 6.05 million students, a decrease of 102,000 from the previous year and the lowest ever.
  • Lower secondary schools: 3.178 million students, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous year and the lowest on record.
  • Compulsory education schools: 76,000 students, an increase of 8,200 from the previous year and the most significant number ever.
  • Upper secondary schools: 2,918,000 students, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous year.
  • Secondary education schools: 34,000 students, an increase of 500 students from the previous year and the most significant number ever.
  • Schools for special needs education: 151,000, an increase of 2,700 from the previous year and the most significant number ever.
  • Special training colleges: 608,000 students, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous year.Of these, 33,000 were in upper secondary courses, a decrease of 500 students from the previous year.
  • Miscellaneous schools: 108,000 students, an increase of 6,100 from the previous year.

• <Number of teaching staff>
  • The percentage of female teachers in the following schools (each of these is a record high):
  • 44.6% in lower secondary schools (up 0.3 points from the previous year)
  • 54.2% in compulsory education schools (up 0.6 points from the previous year)
  • 33.4% in upper secondary schools (up 0.3 points from the previous year)
  • 35.7% in secondary education schools (up 1.1 points from the previous year)
  • 62.8% in schools for special needs education (up 0.2 points from the previous year)

For more information, please visit the website below（Japanese）:
https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/chousa01/kihon/kekka/k_detail/2023.htm