Responding to COVID-19: Japan's Government-Driven Evolution in Education

The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) forced global education institutions into transition to online teaching and learning; several learners have examined their encounters with this change. In February 2020, COVID-19 forced all Japanese schools and institutions in transition to online learning. COVID-19 transformed our society by fostering and expediting innovation and progress, particularly in the digital domain. The educational systems have garnered considerable interest in digital transformation. Japan's contemporary education system is based on an institutional framework from the industrial age. The Global and Innovative Gateway for All (GIGA) School and online education initiatives commenced post-2020. The Government launched GIGA to digitize education up to the secondary school level. Since March 2020, the National Institute of Information has been organizing weekly online webinars to effectively disseminate knowledge and advice on online learning in higher education. The Japan Society for Education Technology (JSET) also offers a comprehensive history of online education in Japan. The COVID-19 has compelled educators to investigate and implement distance learning methods on a much larger scale than before. Prior to COVID-19, distance education practices were rare, and most learning activities took place in the classroom. In 2019, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (文部科学省, Monbu-kagaku-shō) (MEXT), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry collaborated to introduce the Global and Innovation Gateway for All (GIGA) school concepts. GIGA aims to establish an adequate infrastructure for using information and communications technology (ICT) in all schools to provide one device per student by 2023. The Governmental supplementary budget has enabled the majority of local administrations to establish high-speed communication networks and learning platforms for each student. This study will attempt to find the Governmental initiatives for Online Learning and the overall effects of COVID-19 on education in Japan.