2. Children with disability
Education of children with disability
1) Current situation
66. "The 2008 Survey on Persons with Disabilities" conducted in 2009 by the Ministry of Health
and Welfare reveals that 74.5% of children with disability aged 9 or below did not use any day
care facility and 80.5% of them did not go to a kindergarten. Namely, a large majority of children
with disability aged 9 or below just stayed home, not using a day care center or a kindergarten.
67. A 2009 publication released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare shows that, as of 2008,
there were 159 childcare facilities specifically for children with disability and 5,889 children with
disability used these facilities, while there were 768 integrated childcare facilities with 3,513 children
with disability. These figures tell us that a much larger number of children with disability used
specialized facilities. Meanwhile, it is reported that 45% of the children with disability in need of
childcare service use ordinary childcare facilities.
68. In 2007, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology made a report that 35,340 children
with disability were placed in special classes of ordinary schools while 7,637 children with disability
were placed in ordinary classes. This means that children with disability and non-children with
disability are still segregated in educational settings. The number of children with disability who are
to be placed in ordinary classes is on the rise (the number increased by 1,704, respectively in 2008
and 2009) but there is an acute shortage of teachers with special education because the requirement
for recruitment of those qualified teachers is only applicable to the schools with special classes.
2) Questions
69. What actions does the Government plan to take to realize completely free compulsory education
for children with disability? Please specify the Government's plan on the full-scale implementation of
the integrated education for children with disability in step with their development cycle.
Assistance for children with disability and their families
1) Current situation
70. The Government, in the 'Five-Year Plan on the Development of Policies on the Disabled
(2008~2012)', announced that it would provide assistance for the families with children with
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