With the number of high school students reported as truant hitting a record high, a nonprofit organization has opened a new facility in Mimata, Miyazaki Prefecture, to offer a place for them to spend their time and feel at home.
While children in the compulsory education system — from elementary to junior high school — continue to be enrolled in their school even if they stop attending, high school students are more likely to drop out entirely and may become socially isolated.
Himitsukichi, a nonprofit organization based in the city of Miyazaki and which runs a program for children’s outdoor activities, has renovated an old, vacant house to turn it into a facility for older teens, and opened it on Nov. 9.
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