Japan, with a population of more than 100 million, is an example in the fight against a pandemic: it has been said what rules are being followed there.

According to the latest figures, Japan, home to 126 million people. population, there has been a record low number of COVID-19 cases recently, with fewer than 1,000 new cases per day, the lowest in 40 days. Strict rules may have contributed to the country’s good performance. And in Lithuania, people were recently allowed to come to educational institutions during the cold, according to a press release.

Metodija Vidūnaitė, the mother of Japoko, the founder of Japoko, who works with Japanese companies and has partners and friends in this country, agreed to talk about how the organization of educational institutions in Japan has changed. “Our family has three children of different ages. At the beginning of this school year, I noticed that different safety requirements apply in educational institutions. For example, in an elementary school, the mask is only worn by the teacher during lessons, and In the older boy’s gym, all people are required to wear masks during their stay at school: both during breaks and during lessons. I communicate a lot with partners in Japan, so naturally the question arose and how the country is run where the educational system is one of the best in the world, ”says M. Vidūnaitė.

Traditions have prevailed

He was very surprised by the fact that universally applied distance learning was not introduced in Japan. In Japan, the government ordered the closure of schools in mid-March and educational institutions were closed for more than two months. However, later the educational process was reestablished and returned to normal rhythm.

Despite the fact that most sessions are still carried out through contact communication, the Japanese manage to avoid drastic amounts of illness.

It is estimated that there are regions where only 5% offer distance education. Educational institutions. “The main reason is traditions. Changes in Japanese culture are slowly being accepted, they like to think about everything and get stuck beforehand. Of course, technical issues are also important, but we can consider the deciding factor to be that it is very important for Japanese to communicate face-to-face with a person. A live meeting is always valued more than a phone conversation, and regular lessons are valued more than remote ones, no matter how modern. When communicating, it is important to feel the emotion , read the “atmosphere”, the mime of the interlocutor and other signs In Japan, it is even believed that when an educator wears a mask during the educational process, students progress more slowly.

Also, practical learning is very important for Japanese people. Therefore, there are institutions where it is taught at a distance, but the physics and chemistry lessons are taught in the usual way, ”says M. Vidūnaitė.

The main most important protection methods in Japan are similar to those in Lithuania: masks, hand hygiene and social distancing. By the way, even kindergarteners in Japan know this concept well. Disinfectant liquid can be found in all entrances of educational institutions, children should disinfect their hands after each lesson, after using the tools of the common inventory.

In addition, the Japanese, famous for their innovative ideas, use protection methods that are unusual for us. For example, air and surface disinfectants and a means of opening doors without touching them are currently popular in Japan.

By the way, although illnesses have recently been reported in Lithuania during family vacations, in Japan children are not even allowed to visit their friends.

Masks – everywhere and for everyone

Another integral attribute in educational institutions, as in Lithuania, are protective masks. Only here they are used under much stricter requirements than in our country. In Japan, all children and adults must wear masks. Also in kindergartens and orphanages. And at the time when rallies are held in Lithuania before wearing masks or people need to get used to them with fines, the Japanese have no questions about the need for masks. “First of all, because the Japanese mentality is a bit different. There, people have great confidence in government decisions. Additionally, it was common to wear protective masks during flu season, during flu season, and in the spring to protect against allergenic pollen. Therefore, I believe that the requirements announced in February are still being applied diligently ”, considers M. Vidūnaitė. It is true that in Japan the use of masks is not allowed when the outside temperature is high and the humidity levels are high, as well as in physical education lessons.

The children missed the meetings

Gabija Kaunelienė, who teaches Japanese in Lithuania and communicates a lot with her colleagues in Japan, is also constantly interested in the epidemiological situation in Japan. “The low incidence of Japanese diseases is surprising, as almost half of the Japanese population is over 50 years old. Furthermore, the Japanese authorities were in no rush to introduce universal quarantine during the first wave of the virus because they did not want to slow down the economy. Therefore, a great effort has been made and continues to be made to inform the public about prevention. And the Japanese are the people of the rules, because they trust their government and are very aware that just by concentrating and abiding by the rules Establishments can achieve results in a particularly densely populated country by protecting themselves from a coronavirus that spreads so easily.To keep the educational process to a minimum, but to maintain a safe distance in the classroom, the face-to-face lessons began to be divided into two groups, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, even the summer holidays have been shortened and numerous individual consultations have been organized. them.

By the way, there are 40 students in the standard classroom and currently it is being discussed reducing the number of students to 30. As in the education systems of Lithuania and Japan, the COVID-19 epidemic has opened many problems that are difficult but necessary to solve “. G.Kaunelienė.

The teacher who organizes the language courses points out that with the beginning of the quarantine, the teaching process moved smoothly into the electronic space, although he always felt that the students were very longing for the usual process of communication and education. “We successfully completed the last school year with even the smallest Japanese language learners remotely. However, perhaps the biggest challenge was not the distance learning itself, but the frequent technical interruptions at the orphanage. Naturally, it is already. It was difficult for children to concentrate on learning while sitting at home in front of a computer, and problems such as “I hear poorly”, “I get stuck on the Internet”, etc. had a particularly negative effect on children’s motivation to learn. messy children’s computer and software, insufficient internet connection, housewives distracting children unnecessarily during lessons are probably the main problems, chronic work not only for a particular student, but also for the entire group. Probably because of this, only one person signed up for the distance learning announced in the new school year. So all of our s Japanese lessons take place in the usual contact form. Parents ask for it and even thank us for agreeing to teach not “by computer,” says Gabija. However, at the same time, the interlocutor is convinced that distance education has made it possible to make the curriculum more interesting and accessible, easier to understand and even solve some problems.