Japan: Disaster preparation course to be mandatory for aspiring teachers

The education ministry plans to make university students training to become teachers take classes on how to respond to safety threats at schools.

The initiative to make the safety classes a mandatory course partly reflects the Okawa Elementary School tsunami deaths in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. The school saw 74 pupils die on March 11, 2011, when it was engulfed by giant waves spawned by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake.

In October, a district court ordered municipal governments to pay about ¥1.426 billion in damages to the families of 23 of the children killed, finding the municipal school liable for failing to evacuate them appropriately. Both the plaintiffs and defendants are appealing the ruling.

The ministry hopes to improve the knowledge and skills of teacher hopefuls so they can protect children during incidents and natural disasters, officials said.

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