EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM & PRACTICE IN JAPAN

33	“I Outline of Japanese School System”	Previous	Next	JAPANESE

	Special needs education for challenged children was introduced into the formal school system through the legal confirmation of right off all Japanese citizens to receive education after World War Ⅱ. As a result, compulsory education was guaranteed for school-aged challenged children although the support network for maintaining such education was not evenly promoted. Schooling for the challenged became a part of compulsory education in 1979. During that time, the conditions and philosophy of education for challenged children changed from segregation involving different methods and opportunities to broader patterns of integration with ordinary children. At the present, the key challenge is to define and operationalize what universal education for challenged children should be. Conventional criteria for schools, classrooms and guidance often are not appropriate for meeting the educational needs for children with multiple and diverse disabilities. Therefore some composite schools with the functions and facilities to meet such needs have been established since the revision of School Education Act in 2006 under the framework and auspices of special needs education.