Niigata Elementary School Teacher Calls Fukushima Evacuee Student ‘Germ’

The boy complained to the teacher in charge of his class that he felt bad because classmates treated him like a germ, according to the board of education. He also reported to the teacher last month that he was bullied.

Jiji Press NIIGATA (Jiji Press) — A teacher at an elementary school in the city of Niigata added “kin,” or “germ” in Japanese, when he called the name of a male pupil evacuated from the prefecture of Fukushima following the country’s worst nuclear accident in March 2011, it was learned Friday.

“The board expressed deep apologies to the pupil and his parents. The boy evacuated to Niigata with his family from Fukushima after the unprecedented triple reactor meltdown accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was knocked out by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.”

Due to the remark by the teacher, in his 40s, the fourth grader became unable to go to the school, according to Niigata’s board of education.

“The boy reportedly said that he cannot go to the school and does not want to see the teacher.”

The board expressed deep apologies to the pupil and his parents. The boy evacuated to Niigata with his family from Fukushima after the unprecedented triple reactor meltdown accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was knocked out by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In June this year, the boy complained to the teacher in charge of his class that he felt bad because classmates treated him like a germ, according to the board of education…(read more)

Source: The Japan News

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