Survey Results on the Utilization of Permanently and Temporarily Closed School Facilities

September 14, 2012

In order to grasp the current conditions and utilization percentage of schools which have either temporarily or permanently closed down, MEXT annually conducts a survey on the situation of these facilities and has compiled their results as of May 1, 2012.

474 schools have newly closed down in FY2011, resulting in a total of 6,834 schools which have permanently closed down over the past 20 years.

• As the number of students continues to decrease with declining birthrates, 474 public schools （including elementary, lower and upper secondary, specialized schools） permanently closed down nationwide in FY2011. Ever since the start of this survey, somewhere between 400 and 500 schools continue to close down annually. The total number of schools which have closed down over the past 20 years, between FY1992 to FY2011 is 6,834.

Over 70 percent of the permanently closed schools are being utilized

• Out of the 4,222 schools which have permanently closed down between FY1998 and FY2011 in which the buildings still remain, over 70 percent （2,963 schools） of these facilities are being utilized in various ways such as by being converted into community sports centers, community education centers, community exchange centers, cultural centers, welfare facilities for the elderly, childcare facilities such as nursery schools and or factories and offices for private companies.
• Although over 70 percent of these facilities are being utilized, 1,000 permanently closed schools （increased by 109 schools from last year） have no plans of being used. Municipalities are, however, having discussions with local residents to find ways of actively utilizing these facilities.

Project for the future use of “Closed Down Schools to be used by the Community”

• MEXT publicizes a list of permanently closed schools which are open for utilization proposals on its homepage.
• MEXT offers considerable flexibility for property disposal procedures needed upon utilizing closed schools. With the cooperation of other ministries, furthermore, MEXT also introduces available grants-in-aid measures. MEXT will continue to support local public entities to actively utilize closed school facilities.

Survey Results on the Utilization of Permanently and Temporarily Closed School Facilities（As of May 1st, 2012）

●Number of newly closed schools （data:1,2）

FY2011  474 schools （FY2010: 559）
（elementary）: 323, （lower secondary）: 93, （upper secondary）: 50, （special assistance schools）: 8

Total number of permanently closed schools from FY1992 （year the survey started） 6,834

●Utilization of permanently closed schools （data: 3,4,5）

Number of permanently closed schools from FY1998 to FY2011  4,709
（elementary）:3,010, （lower secondary）: 867, （upper secondary）: 765, （special assistance schools）: 67

Total number of permanently closed schools （as of May 1, 2012）    4,222

Plans for some form of utilization　　2,963 （70.2%）
No current plans for utilization　　1,259 （29.8%）
　・Plans for the building to be used　　259 （6.1%）
　・No plans for the building to used　　1,000 （23.7%）

Main forms of utilization

Community sport centers, community education centers, community exchange centers, culture centers, welfare facilities for the elderly, childcare facilities such as nursery schools, factories and offices for private companies.

Main reason for no utilization plans

Although there may be plans for utilization, no official requests have been made by the community（44.0%）
Do not know how to use the facilities （12.8%）

Number of projects published in “Closed Down Schools to be used by the Community”

Out of the 1,000 schools which have no plans for utilization, 48 schools have received proposals under the project （4.8%）

●  Situation of temporarily closed schools （data: 6,7）

Number of temporarily closed schools （as of May 1, 2012） 435

Plans for some form of utilization　　280 （64.4%）
　・Facility to be utilized for more than one year　　71 （25.4%）
　・Facility to be utilized temporarily　　209 （74.6%）

Number of schools with no plans for utilization　　155 （35.6%）
　・Facility temporarily closed under 10 years　　99 （63.9%）
　・Facility temporarily closed over 10 years　　56 （36.1%）

Main reason for temporary closure

Increase in number of students anticipated, taking the community and parents into consideration

※Temporary closed schools refers to schools which have no students enrolled as of May 1, 2012 （excludes permanently closed down schools）.

Contacts：

Minister’s Secretariat, Department of Facilities Planning and Administration, Local Facilities Aid Division

Telephone：03-5253-4111 （reception）, 03-6734-2464 （direct）