My youngest child catches colds easily and takes a long time to get better.
Usually, he is healthy, but when he gets a fever, he must stay home for about four days.

Every time this happens, I worry: “Will this affect high school entrance exams?”

In some prefectures, students who miss more than ten days in three years may receive a lower score in public high school entrance exams.
It feels like society prefers only very healthy children, and others are at a disadvantage.

My child lives a regular life, exercises, and washes his hands carefully.
But he still gets sick sometimes.
There is almost nothing more we can do.

When I read Toru Hosaka’s book “The Curse of ‘Resting Is a Burden’”, I felt confused and frustrated as both a parent and a teacher.

I understand the idea that “resting should be accepted.”
But I also felt that the book asks too much from schools.

Schools are not all-powerful.
Schools work inside many rules and limits.

As long as entrance exams value attendance, schools cannot create a culture where “it is okay to rest.”
It is not fair to ask only schools to change, while the system stays the same.

The same is true for teachers’ work.
When one teacher teaches many classes, whole-class lessons are the most efficient.
This means it is almost impossible to give individual support to absent students.

There are not enough teachers.
Teachers must continue the lessons.
They cannot support every absent student.
This is not a lack of effort. It is a structural problem.

I agree with the idea of “no homework and free-use review sheets.”
Students can learn by themselves, and teachers have less work.

However, since the new evaluation system started, checking student work has become necessary.
Without homework as evidence, how can teachers evaluate 40 students in one class?
Some classes meet only once a week, and teachers may meet almost 300 students a year.
It is impossible to remember everyone and evaluate each student individually.

The evaluation system does not match the reality of schools.

A culture that accepts rest,
support for absent students,
and personalized learning—
none of these can be achieved by schools alone.

Entrance exams, teacher numbers, curriculum, evaluation methods—
unless these outside systems change, nothing will change in schools.

Schools are not all-powerful, and they should not be.
Society needs to understand this simple truth.