Today’s “Learning of Tomorrow Lunch” online symposium features Amagasaki City Superintendent of Education Makoto Matsumoto. Following
Hiroshima Prefecture and Kumamoto City, this is part of the “Super Superintendent” series.
What makes Amagasaki City remarkable is that, despite the lack of ICT infrastructure in its schools, it managed to implement ICT-based support for home learning during school closures.
While Japan is often criticized as lagging behind in educational digitization—with the national average of one computer for every 5.4 students—
Amagasaki City has a ratio of one computer for every 10 students. Immediately after the decision to close schools was made, Superintendent Matsumoto clearly defined a policy, designed a concrete plan, and moved forward while communicating it effectively.
A key feature of this approach was placing the “homeroom teacher” at the center of home learning efforts to emphasize the creativity and ingenuity of the city’s 2,000 teachers.
“Solving problems under circumstances no one has ever experienced before relies solely on creativity and ingenuity on the ground. This is the foundation of innovation,” said Superintendent Matsumoto.
Furthermore, Amagasaki City’s policy was to never give up on utilizing ICT, even in the face of a lack of ICT infrastructure and the fact that 5% of households have difficulty accessing the internet. He points out that two shifts are occurring in the conventional wisdom of
Japan’s public education system:
“A shift in the norms surrounding ICT utilization” and “a shift in the norms regarding public funding versus household expenses.” Schools are now required to develop lesson plans based on the assumption of
ICT use, forcing a major transformation in classroom instruction. While households have
always borne the cost of some educational materials, they will now also have to cover the costs of devices and internet service. It is necessary to consider the priorities of these household expenses.
Furthermore, he states that equal educational opportunity must be guaranteed “substantively,” not merely “formally.” I look forward to seeing how Amagasaki City will address the challenge of establishing a permanent framework for these measures, rather than treating them as a temporary fix.
I consistently receive lamentations such as,

“In my area, no measures at all—such as online education—have been implemented.” While it goes without saying that the development of ICT infrastructure should proceed swiftly, at the same time, the lack of such infrastructure cannot be used as an excuse. That is the impression I gained from Amagasaki City’s efforts. I will provide a
detailed report at a later date. Thank you very much, Superintendent
Matsumoto!
And thank you once again to Mr. Takaya, Section Chief at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Superintendent Hirakawa of Hiroshima Prefecture for participating and sharing their comments, as well as to the many viewers who tuned in!