Know How Robots In Japan Help Students Attend School

The Japanese city of Kumamoto plans to use robots to facilitate virtual attendance for students to address absenteeism due to anxiety and bullying.

While robotic devices have been used for decades to help students with physical health issues attend classes remotely, their usage in helping students facing mental health issues is more recent.

Sense of reality for kids afraid to interact

Robots equipped with microphones, speakers, and cameras enabling two-way communication are scheduled to be introduced into classrooms in Japan in November.

Using robots for attendance/ Asahi Shimbun Getty Images

This aims to reduce anxiety for absentee children planning to return to the classroom.

Children can use these one-metre (three-foot) tall self-propelling robots to represent them at school by moving them within the school grounds and even participating in events.

"Communicating through these robots is not completely real-life, but it can at least give a certain sense of reality to kids who are still unsure and afraid of interacting with others," Maki Yoshizato, a Kumamoto city official, said.

Increase in self-esteem & confidence noticed

A 2023 research project on 'User perspectives of robotic telepresence technology in schools' by Matthew Fletcher, Caroline Bond and Pamela Qualter stated that robot devices allowed unwell pupils to access the same educational materials and lessons as their peers.

A telepresence robot in Egypt/ Burgundy Farm Country Day School

Despite being too ill to attend school, students felt connected and avoided feelings of loneliness by interacting with their friends and maintaining social contact through the robot.

It was realised that using a robot to access their education increased student self-esteem and confidence, increasing their desire to engage with their learning.

However, there are technical hurdles to using such devices. For instance, they might occasionally malfunction or need rebooting.

The cost attached to it - starting around $600 apiece and climbing into the thousands - makes it inaccessible to most people without public funding.

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Such robotic devices are not meant to isolate these students for a longer period but are instead to be part of a graded exposure approach to gradually reintegrate them back into school.

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