Ministry in push for foreign kids to go to school, learn Japanese：The Asahi Shimbun www.asahi.com

The ministry will distribute its guideline to local governments nationwide to promote the system.
Japanese law does not oblige foreign children to undergo compulsory education, and the matter is left to local governments to decide.
However, more than 20 percent of local governments have not complied with the request.
More than 20 percent of them had not taken special instruction such as supplemental study sessions of the Japanese language.
Among measures in the works is for Japanese language teachers to undergo professional training.