By 
12-09-2024
Stella Liantsi
South and East Asia Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
Occasioned by the start of the new academic year, a contentious discussion about whether Saitama Predecture’s historically single-gender high schools should adopt co-education is arising as the region struggles with the changing standards of modern education.
In August 2022, a third-party panel of the Saitama’s prefectural board of education announced the recommendation for all prefectural single-sex high schools be converted to co-education as soon as possible. The relevant three-member panel is responsible for dealing with gender complaints. The issue gained traction in public debate in April 2022 when a local complained that it was wrong for prefectural boys’ schools to deny entrance to female students. They argued that the situation violated the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Japan ratified in 1985. Afterward, from the investigation they conducted, they discovered that there were 91 single-sex schools in six prefectures in 2001, a number that was reduced to 22 in 2021. As a result, they recommended to Saitama Prefecture’s Superintendent of Education, Toru Hiyoshi, to make the prefectural high schools co-education, pointing out among other arguments that coeducational schools are necessary for gender equality.
Despite Saitama’s prefectural board of education announcing that they would take into consideration and actively promote co-education, the report they published in August 2022 was vague and it did not specify clear steps forward or the timeline to achieve their goals. Divergent views on the shift to co-educational schools were found in the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education survey. The results of the high school students showed a strong opposition to the proposal with 57 percent against coeducation and only 7 percent in favour, while 33 percent were indifferent. However, when junior high students were asked about their preferred type of future high school, 56 percent of them indicated that “either is fine”, 18 percent expressed that the schools should be co-ed and 19 percent stated that they shouldn’t. It is clear that there is no consistent opinion emerging from the student body.
Although a decision by the Educational Committee is anticipated later this year, the debate continues outside of the classroom as well with very strong arguments on both sides. A graduate from Uruwa High School stated that co-education is not the solution to promote gender equality. Rather, the focus should be on the curriculum, teaching strategies, and the structure of high school education. On the other side, citizens who support co-education agreed that “it would be better to move towards co-education considering human rights and gender equality issues”.
Ultimately, this discussion isn’t only about classroom dynamics, it’s a reflection of Japan’s changing ideas about gender equality and school reform in a culture where traditional gender roles are increasingly being questioned. Saitama’s Education Committee is therefore about to make a decision that will either preserve or reform the future of Japan’s educational system.
Sources and further readings:
Jiji. (2024, August 23). Saitama divided over making single-gender high schools coed. The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/08/23/japan/society/saitama-high-schools-coed/. Accessed 18 November 2024.
Reiko, O., & Saitama, B. (2023, September 20). Single-sex public high schools in Japan’s Saitama Pref. should be made coed: Panel. The Mainichi. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230920/p2a/00m/0na/006000c. Accessed 18 November 2024.
Satomi, S., Shun, N., Miu, Y. (2024, August 23). Saitama board pushes co-ed schools but vague on details. The Asahi Shimbun. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15398524. Accessed 18 November 2024.
Shoko, W., & Saitama, B. (2024, July 18). Majority of high schoolers in Japan’s Saitama Pref. reject having only coed schools: poll. The Mainichi. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240718/p2a/00m/0na/044000c. Accessed 18 November 2024.
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