OSAKA — Ikeda Elementary School, where eight pupils were stabbed to death Friday by a knife-wielding man, began an explanatory meeting for parents Saturday afternoon.

School officials pledged to make the utmost efforts to provide mental care for the children involved in the incident, in cooperation with the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Osaka Prefectural Government.

The school also proposed a joint funeral service for the eight pupils who died, the officials said.