Fukushima school shuts down

November 29, 2013

Shoei High becomes 1st school to shut down over nuclear disaster

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131129p2a00m0na013000c.html

FUKUSHIMA -- Shoei High School, a private school that fell under the nuclear evacuation zone in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, will shut down permanently in March next year due to lingering nuclear radiation fears, becoming the first school in Fukushima Prefecture to do so.

Shoin Gakuen, a school corporation based in prefectural capital Fukushima which runs the high school, applied to the prefectural government for the high school's closure and the application was accepted. Prefectural government officials said Shoei High will be the first school among the prefecture's public and private elementary, junior high and high schools to shut down in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, which was triggered by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Shoin Gakuen plans to enter into compensation negotiations with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the crippled nuclear plant. It will consider taking the case to the governmental Nuclear Damage Claim Dispute Resolution Center, an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) entity in charge of helping to resolve disputes stemming from the Fukushima disaster.

Shoei High School, situated 22 kilometers north of the crippled nuclear power plant, is the only private high school in the Soma-Futaba district in northeastern Fukushima. It called off classes after the area was designated as an emergency evacuation preparation zone.

The school had 106 students when the crisis began, and many of them were forced to enroll in high schools affiliated with Shoin Gakuen and other prefectural high schools. Twenty-eight students who had been accepted by Shoei High were taken in by other high schools in municipalities where they and their families evacuated.

Although some students and parents asked the high school to reopen, the high school board decided at a meeting in March this year to drop the idea, due to the ongoing nuclear crisis and prolonged decontamination work. The school submitted an application to an advisory panel of private schools in Fukushima Prefecture in mid-June, seeking its permanent closure.

Kazuhiko Sasaki, 57, general affairs chief of the school, noted that while prefectural high schools can count on financial support from the prefectural government and operate satellite schools in evacuation destinations, private high schools struggle financially to continue operations. "It was a tough decision," he said.

Originally started as Haramachi industrial high school in 1957, the school assumed its present name in 1996 by inaugurating an integrated course.

Fukushima school to close due to lack of students

A private senior high school in Fukushima Prefecture will formally close down at the end of March due to a lack of students in the wake of the 2011 nuclear accident.

Shoei High School in Minamisoma City will be the first of the prefecture's schools to close since the accident.

The high school is less than 30 kilometers from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, and was included in the evacuation zone. All of its 100 students had to transfer to other schools after the accident. The school has been shuttered since then.

The operator of the school says its request to formally close it down has been approved by the prefecture.

It says there will not be enough of students to resume classes, as some areas of the city and nearby municipalities are still no-entry zones.

The operator adds that it will demand compensation from the Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Nov. 29, 2013 - Updated 05:05 UTC