COVID-19 Measures and Policy
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!
Current Policy
(as of October 13th, 2020)
- Affected Students The restrictions below will be applied to all students in either of the following situation:
- Students who are from or stayed in the following countries/areas within 14 days of arriving in Japan:
- China
- South Korea
- Countries in the following list: Travel restrictions countries
- Students from anywhere who experience symptoms associated with coronavirus (fever over 37.5 degrees for 4 days or more, dry cough, fatigue) within 14 days before arriving in Japan, or after arriving in Japan, and are not diagnosed by a doctor with a specific other illness
- Restrictions Students meeting the conditions above may not attend school for 14 days after arriving in Japan. If scheduled to stay with a host family, they may be required to stay in special accommodation* for this period. During this period, they may attend their originally scheduled classes virtually (online, using video meeting software) without additional charge. Any weeks of class that they miss will be credited to them, to be added to the end of their study, taken during a pre-planned holiday period, or kept as credit for up to two years from the originally planned date of study.
- Cancellation policy The conditions here supersede GenkiJACS' normal cancellation policies, and are in effect until the travel bans are lifted.
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- If a student becomes unable to come to Japan because of flight cancellation, health problems, or government restriction, the student may postpone their study for up to two years from the originally planned date of study without any additional charges, regardless of how late the postponement is in advance of the planned study date.
- If a student becomes unable to come to Japan within two weeks before study starts because of flight cancellation, health problems, or government restriction, and wishes to cancel their study, GenkiJACS will refund all fees except any expenses that GenkiJACS has incurred, upon receipt of proof of flight cancellation or health problem.
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- If a student currently at school is required to return home by order of their government or local authority, the student may postpone the remainder of their study for up to two years without any additional charges. So, for example, if a student was scheduled to study for four more weeks, but must return home, they may come back to Japan any time within the next two years and study for four weeks for no additional cost.
- If a student currently at school is required to return home by order of their government or local authority, and wishes to cancel the remainder of their study, GenkiJACS will refund all fees except any expenses that GenkiJACS has incurred.
Note: all refunds are on a weekly basis, any week/term started cannot be refunded
- In conditions other than the above, GenkiJACS' normal policies will apply.
* If you are unsure about where to self-quarantine, contact us and we will help you.
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:
- In-person lessons at a future date
- Online lessons
Situations in which we may not be able to provide in-school lessons include the following:
- Nationwide or local state of emergency
- Whole school will be closed for duration of state of emergency
- National or local government request to stop providing in-person classes
- Whole school will be closed for as long as requested
- 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.
- Other unforeseen circumstances
- Depending on the specific situation
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.