Japanese schools move poultry away from schools over bird flu fears

Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 17 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT


Kindergartens and primary schools across the nation have moved their kept poultry away from children due to parents' fears of bird flu as the human death toll from the disease is rising in other Asian countries.

While teachers in some schools are now caring for the animals instead of students, some schools have moved their birds to nearby farms. According to sources, there have been cases in which schools have asked administrators to kill their birds.

The Education, Science and Technology Ministry's school curriculum guidelines stipulate that having contact with animals is essential for children to deepen their understanding of the preciousness of life.

As the measures deprive children of such opportunities, some education experts have said the schools may have overreacted.

Early this month, a parent of a pupil at a municipal kindergarten in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, made a request to the director, saying, 'I want the kindergarten to move its birds to a place where they have no contact with children for as long as they cannot be said to be 100 percent safe.'

The kindergarten kept bantams and silky fowls.

Though a veterinarian confirmed that the four birds were not infected with bird flu, the parent had the child miss school the following day.

The municipal board of education decided to remove the birds from the kindergarten on the ground that the parent's fears must be alleviated.

The birds were entrusted to a farmer, and teachers told the children that the birds 'are on a journey to a warm place.'

On Saturday, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry issued a statement effectively declaring the end of bird flu in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

But an official of the municipal board of education said, 'We cannot return the birds immediately unless the parent who voiced such fears approves it.'

According to a source on the board, two schools in the prefecture took their birds to a prefectural livestock hygiene station to have them killed.

At a municipal primary school in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, where two bantams are kept, teachers have taken charge of cleaning the bird cage since late January, replacing the fifth- and sixth-graders who previously took turns performing such duties.

The teachers took the measure also due to parents' concerns over possible bird flu infection.

The teachers clean the cage only after the students have left the school, and the birds are feed only by the teachers. The school has decided to prevent children from having any contact with the birds until the end of March.

At a municipal primary school in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, teachers have taken over the care of four silky fowls since mid-January. The teachers voluntarily took the measure before parents expressed concerns.

The school's measure is more careful because only the school principal, vice principal and administrative workers do the work as they usually have less contact with students.

The curriculum guidelines for first- to third-graders in primary school obliges schools to give learning opportunities in which students can gain a sense of the preciousness of life through care for living creatures.

Last spring, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry distributed manuals for keeping animals in schools to primary schools nationwide to improve educational activities for that purpose.

A veterinary official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said the possibility of poultry kept in school being infected with bird flu was 'extremely low. There's no need to react excessively.'

But Michihiro Shimano, a school inspector of the education ministry, said, 'Shouldn't we teach children the importance of thoughtful actions based on correct information, especially during a situation like this?'

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