According to Mainichi Shimbun and other daily media, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education announced on December 2 that it will help school-weary children with their daily learning and communication through the Motouniverse platform. The Tokyo Metropolitan Education Commission, in cooperation with the Shinjuku District Education Commission, will begin a trial run in December with about 30 elementary and middle school students in the Shinjuku district.
According to the report, the metaverse platform is a virtual learning platform with three “floors” — one for students who don’t want to go to school, one for students who are new to Japan and not yet proficient in Japanese, and one for sharing. Students can use their virtual identities to move freely around the space to communicate and consult with teachers.
This virtual learning platform targets primary and secondary school students. The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education plans to expand the program to other areas in the metropolitan area after spring 2023.
According to the data, the number of primary and middle school students in Tokyo who are considered “unable or unwilling to attend school” in 2021 is 21,536, about 1.2 times the figure in 2020. An official of the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education said that he hoped to connect children who do not want to go to school with society through the Metacom platform.
(Editing by Liu Qingyang)
