Tech Chronic school absenteeism: telepresence robots tested in Kumamoto

[thomas]

Honjo Elementary School in Kumamoto is testing telerobots to help students who struggle with chronic absenteeism: they can remotely pilot a robot body that will attend classes in their place, allowing them to stay connected and engaged with school life while staying at home.

Equipped with a camera, speaker, microphone and touchscreen, the robot can be controlled by a child from home through a smartphone app. The child's image will appear on the screen atop the 1-meter-tall wheeled robot, allowing the physically absent child to interact with other students in the classroom. "I hope seeing friends on the screen makes students with attendance issues want to stay engaged," said head teacher Hideomi Nishikawa. Honjo Elementary School has a special online learning program for students who experience long-term absences. Funded by a government subsidy, the municipality has deployed two Temi robots, one in Honjo Elementary School and the other in a junior high school, for a student who can't fully attend classes due to illness.

In the academic year through March 2023, a record 299,048 elementary and junior high school students in Japan were chronically absent from school, an increase of 22.1 per cent from the previous year, according to the education ministry. That figure represents children who missed school for social, psychological and emotional issues. Chronically ill students were omitted.

Absent students in Kumamoto can now attend school via robot | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis