被災地の教育 復興の担い手を育成したい

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Mar. 11, 2013)
Tohoku children also need 'restoration' after disaster
被災地の教育　復興の担い手を育成したい（3月10日付・読売社説）

Children are the future of the Tohoku region, which was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We hope their educational needs will be restored as quickly as possible in disaster-hit areas.
　子供たちは東北の将来の担い手になる。東日本大震災の被災地の教育再生を加速させたい。

After the March 11, 2011, disaster, the government has dispatched a relatively generous number of teachers to support children at schools in the three disaster-hit prefectures in the Tohoku region.
　東北３県の被災地の学校には震災後、教師が比較的手厚く配置され、子供たちの指導に当たってきた。

In the classrooms, special programs have been launched to have children learn traditional crafts of the areas and think about the future of their hometowns. Educating them on the places they hail from is expected to deepen the children's love for their communities and have a long-term effect in helping restore devastated areas.
　学校現場では、地域の伝統工芸を学んだり、町の未来の姿を子供たちに考えさせたりする取り組みが始まっている。こうした郷土教育は、ふるさとへの愛着を深めさせ、復興を長期的に支える効果が期待できる。

The government should continue offering support through the dispatch of teachers and other school staff. It also should improve educational content and further develop the education system.
　今後も、教職員の人的支援を継続し、教育の内容や体制をさらに充実させることが大切である。

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Decrease in students

However, many schools have seen a decrease in students. This is most serious in municipalities around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
　問題は、子供の減少に直面している学校が多いことだ。特に深刻なのは、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の周辺自治体である。

For instance, the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, has moved its administrative functions to the city of Nihonmatsu in another part of the prefecture. Namie Primary School has continued classes in a building of a defunct school in Nihonmatsu.
　役場機能を福島県二本松市に移転した浪江町では、町立浪江小学校が市内の廃校校舎を使い、授業を続ける。

However, many of the school's children have transferred to other schools. Namie Primary School had more than 500 students before the earthquake and tsunami, but the number has dropped to only 30. No new students will enroll in the school in April.
だが、児童の多くは別の学校に移った。
震災前に５００人を超えた児童数は、現在３０人。４月からの新入生はいない。

Even if residents who evacuated to other areas returned to their hometowns, the situation would remain difficult. Hirono Primary School, run by the town of Hirono, Fukushima Prefecture, resumed classes at its old school building in August. But only 20 percent of its previous student body has returned to the school.
　避難先から帰還しても、状況は厳しい。昨年８月から元の校舎で授業を再開した広野町立広野小学校では、戻った児童は震災前の２割程度にとどまっている。

Municipal governments apparently want to maintain the foundation of their communities and retain bonds with their residents by keeping local schools operating.
　自治体には、学校を維持することで、地域の核や住民の絆を保ちたいとの思いがあるのだろう。

However, parents tend to be anxious about having their children return with them to their own homes in areas where radiation is still too high for them to do so in the foreseeable future or where the foundations for their livelihood have not yet been fully restored.
　しかし、放射線量が高くて帰還の見通しが立たない地域、生活基盤の整っていない地域では、保護者は子供と一緒に元の家へ戻ることに不安を抱きがちだ。

Municipal governments have to present them with a picture of restoration in the near future along with detailed explanations. We also hope the central government and other organizations concerned will help create jobs in the disaster-hit areas, leading to the stabilization of the livelihood of children's guardians.
　自治体は復興の近未来像を丁寧に説明する必要がある。国なども保護者の生活安定につながる雇用創出を支援してもらいたい。

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Negative effects

It is also concerned that a prolonged life as an evacuee might have a negative effect on children.
　長期化する避難生活が、子供に及ぼす影響も懸念される。

Children of evacuees are said to spend insufficient time on study at home because they have no space to concentrate on their studies in tiny temporary housing units.
　狭い仮設住宅では落ち着いて勉強する場がなく、家庭学習がおろそかになると言われる。

The project of a nonprofit organization to have former schoolteachers and former cram school instructors help such children study after school is very significant.
元教師や元塾講師らが放課後に子供の学習の手助けをするＮＰＯ法人の試みは、大いに意義があろう。

Meanwhile, according to a school health survey by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, the percentage of overweight children has increased sharply in Fukushima Prefecture, probably because they play less outdoors due to radiation fears.
　文部科学省の学校保健統計調査によると、原発事故後、肥満傾向の子供の割合が福島県で急増している。放射線への不安から外遊びが減少したためと見られる。

The central and local governments should develop indoor sports facilities in addition to those at the schools so children can be more physically active.
　学校以外でも屋内運動施設の設置を進め、子供が体を動かせる場所を確保したい。

Equally important is their psychological care. In case of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the number of children who suffered from mental stress and needed psychological care peaked three years after the disaster.
　心のケアも重要だ。阪神大震災では、精神的なストレスを抱え、ケアを必要とする子が震災３年後に最も多かった。

We hope the education ministry continues to send counselors to schools in the disaster-hit areas and develops consultation services further.
文科省はスクールカウンセラーの派遣を続け、相談体制の拡充を図ってほしい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 10, 2013)
（2013年3月10日01時12分  読売新聞）