Japan allows students to talk during school lunch breaks, reversing Covid-19 rules
- Japan’s education ministry said it would ask schools to proactively get students to remove their masks where they are not necessary
- Many institutions had enforced a strict silent lunch policy since the start of the pandemic, encouraging less chatting in proximity to avoid spreading the virus
Japanese schools are being asked to allow students to talk with classmates again during meals, as the country inches away from pandemic practices that have been a mainstay of daily life for nearly three years.
The education ministry issued a circular on Tuesday on how to facilitate conversation between students after revised national guidance released last week removed lines that have advised against it.
Many schools had enforced a strict silent lunch policy since the start of the pandemic, based off the national guidelines encouraging less chatting in proximity to avoid spreading the virus. “Eat in silence as much as possible and wear a mask when conversing,” the old recommendations said.
Many virus precautions like wearing masks – which are not mandatory outdoors – remain popular as the country sees another rise in infections.
But even as most adults had returned to chatting again in dining settings, most academic institutions had stuck with the recommendations, including asking students to sit alone at their desks while eating, rather than join them together as they did before the pandemic.
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Children may “talk to each other during lunch if there’s appropriate ventilation and seating arrangements,” the ministry said, adding it would ask schools to proactively get students to remove their masks where they are not necessary.