A Survey of Truancy at Special School for Children with Intellectual Disability in Japan

Abstract

e number of truant elementary and lower secondary school students in Japan may be as high as 120,000, and measures to manage these students are in place, such as the provision of school counselors. Numerous research papers on truancy have been published; however, little information is available on truant students at schools for special needs education, because few studies have been conducted on truancy and methods for supporting truant students at such schools. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey on truant students and invited the participation of all schools for special needs education (intellectual disabilities: ID) (which comprise the majority of all schools for special needs education in Japan). e percentage of schools with truant students tends to be smaller for schools for special needs education (ID) than for ordinary elementary and lower secondary schools. However, the percentage of truant students is higher at schools for special needs education (ID). e study shows that the causes of truancy at schools for special needs education (ID) are di erent from those at ordinary elementary and lower secondary schools; moreover, schools for special needs education (ID) typically have insufcient coordinated, in-school support mechanisms for truant students. ese results suggest that truancy at schools for special needs education (ID) is di erent than at ordinary schools, and this paper discusses the need to study the reality of the truancy of individual students and e ective methods for providing needed support.