Mar 08 (Kyodo) - Many schools in major Japanese cities are providing open classrooms for students after the government's decision to close all elementary, junior high and high schools from March 2 over coronavirus fears as a large number of parents have no other way to look after their children, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.
Parents across the country have complained about having little time to prepare for the school closure, prompting 77 percent of surveyed municipalities to provide places to spend time for children of parents who cannot take time off work, according to the survey.
The survey covering 87 urban municipalities was conducted between March 4 and 6.
Although the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been criticized for not acting quickly to prevent the spread of the coronavirus originating in China after Japan began to see infection cases in the country in mid-January, families and school operators were caught off guard by his announcement on Feb. 27 to close schools for about a month from March 2.
