Coronavirus and GenkiJACS

Until everything comes back to normal, in order to guarantee the safety of our students we will keep all the precautionary measures as below:

• Cleaning all tables, doorknobs and handrails every day with disinfectant.
• Providing hand disinfectant in all classrooms and shared spaces at school.
• Providing free masks and rubber gloves to all students and staff who want them.
• Installing anti-bacterial and virus protection devices in shared spaces at school.
• Advising students on procedures to prevent possible infection directly, and through posters and other methods.
• Visually and verbally checking student and staff health condition each morning, and checking the temperature of anyone who is not in perfect health.
• Posting information on our website, Facebook page, and other public locations.
• Avoiding places where lots of people congregate when taking students outside of school.
• Not allowing visitors inside the schools.
• Allowing students to change schools without additional fees.
• Anyone with transit flights going through Korea or China and the counties listed here https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html are advised on what to do when in transit or asked to potentially change their flight paths.
• Students who have spent time in China, South Korea, or any country on this list https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html are required to wait 14 days before attending classes.
• Students who are unable to attend class physically can attend virtually, using Zoom online meeting software.
• All teachers and staff who have symptoms associated with coronavirus (and are not diagnosed with a different illness) are required to not attend school for 14 days, and are provided with special paid leave or remote work.
• Avoiding places where lots of people congregate when taking students outside of school.

We will, of course, keep you updated with any new information, and we’re looking forward to seeing you in Japan!

Policy Regarding Switching to Online Lessons Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

GenkiJACS will make every effort to provide in-school lessons for our students. However, if we cannot provide in-school lessons, GenkiJACS will provide one of the following options, at no extra cost:

1. In-person lessons at a future date
2. Online lessons

Please note that only one of the options will be available each time, to prevent classes from splitting into two. If all students in the class are able to take in-person lessons at a future date, that option will be provided. If some students are unable to take this option, online lessons will be provided instead. The Japanese government has certified that online lessons may be provided as an alternative when in-school lessons are impossible

Situations in which we may not be able to provide in-school lessons include the following:

1. Nationwide or local state of emergency
• Whole school will be closed for duration of state of emergency
2. National or local government request to stop providing in-person classes
• Whole school will be closed for as long as requested
3. Coronavirus infection, or likely coronavirus infection, among students or staff
• All classes of students and staff who have had close contact with the infected person, and any other people as requested by local authorities, will be moved online for two weeks. Classes which have had no close contact may continue in-person.
4. Other unforeseen circumstances
• Depending on the specific situation

We will of course make every effort to avoid disruption to your classes whenever possible, and do our best to keep classes running as normal during this pandemic.

In addition, there may be situations where a teacher feels unable to provide in-school lessons due to the need to protect family members from possible infection. In this case, we will make every effort to arrange an alternate teacher, or reschedule your classes. However, if it is impossible to arrange an alternate teacher, in rare cases we may have to arrange for that teacher’s classes to be provided online.

This is a very challenging time for everyone. We’ll do our best to make sure that you get the Japanese education you want, in the way you want it, with the least interruption possible. We’ll also take every step we can to try to keep our staff and students safe from infection. In exchange, we’d like to ask all students to make your best effort to avoid possible coronavirus infection, for the sake of the GenkiJACS teachers and staff who have young children or older relatives at home.

Travel advice

Flight / Health

• Please read this travel restrictions update from the Japanese government from May 27th: Strengthening border measures related to novel coronavirus (COVID-19): Visa restrictions

• If you are coming from or transiting via zones deemed at risk by the Japanese government, we recommend that you use precaution and follow these guidelines:

• Wear a mask at all times
• Keep to the basic rules of hygiene
• Wash your hands regulary (every hour if possible)
• Gargle with a mouth gargling solution

When coming to Japan there is a good chance that you will be checked and questioned in quite a detail so please be ready.

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• If you are coming from or transiting via zones under the travel restrictions decided by the Japanese government please note that:
• You will not be able to fly directly to Fukuoka and will need to fly to either:
• Tokyo
• Osaka
• The Japanese government will ask you to self-quarantine for 14 days in a hotel/accommodation you will need to have booked yourself
• You will not be able to use public transports during this quarantine

Travel insurance

• Your travel insurance may be affected by the current situation. Before travelling, we recommend that you check your travel insurance policy carefully and contact your travel insurer if you have questions or concerns about whether you are covered by your insurance policy for any potential COVID-19 related expenses. Travel insurance cover differs from company to company.
• For students that have booked a travel insurance with us, we confirm here that this travel insurance covers cases involving the coronavirus.