SCHOOL REGISTRATION & ENROLLMENT
* Feel free to contact us for support in any of these procedures – we’re here to help! *
The Japanese school year starts in April and ends in March. Children who will be turning six years old between 2 April of the current year to 1 April the following year can be accepted as first graders in all elementary schools. Children who will be turning thirteen between 2 April of the current year to 1 April the following year can be accepted as first graders in all junior high schools.
There are no limitations on nationality or Japanese language fluency for school enrollment – the only requirement for registration is that the child must have a resident card (“Zairyu card”), with their current residential address listed on it.
The first step, then, is to visit your local ward office, register your address (read more about this process here), and inform the ward office staff that you’d like to register your child at a local school. You will then make an appointment to visit the public school based on your address (the ward officer may be able to assist you in scheduling the appointment if required) and proceed with registration.
In Fukuoka city and some other local municipalities which are part of this program, the Japanese language support center will then send a coordinator to assess the level of your child’s Japanese skills – the child should be accompanied by one of their parents and, if possible, someone who speaks Japanese. If required, your child may then need to attend another school once or twice a week, to attend extra-curricular Japanese classes – in these cases, a parent or other trusted adult will need to pick up and drop off the child from the tutoring center, until such a time or age the child is confident going on their own.
In most cases, it will take 3- 6 months for your child to become fluent in basic Japanese, and approximately 10 months to become fluent enough for academic purposes – but the actual amount of time depends on the individual of course.
* Feel free to contact us for support in any of these procedures – we’re here to help! *
