As child abuse cases continue to rise in Japan, the education ministry decided Wednesday to study how other countries handle the problem.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said it will conduct overseas and domestic surveys in fiscal 2005 and publish the results in guides to be used by education boards and schools nationwide.

According to the ministry's preliminary report, it is also considering conducting interviews at schools in the United States and other countries.

The ministry will examine mainly cases in which schools quickly detected abuse by working with experts or prevented abuse through the effective cooperation between schools on relevant institutions.

The decision is in line with the country's revised Child Abuse Prevention Law that will take effect in October. One of its provisions stipulates that the government conduct surveys and research so that school teachers can take a more practical approach in preventing child abuse.

Serious child-abuse cases have recently hit headlines in Japan, prompting the government to devise prevention measures.

In January, a 15-year-old boy was found comatose after being starved over a long period by his father and his live-in girlfriend in west Japan's Osaka Prefecture. He had been absent from school for a long time, but his teachers just believed he was truant and did not suspect child abuse.

Following the incident, the ministry urged teachers to carefully check the situation of students who do not attend schoolby visiting their homes or taking other measures.

Source: Xinhua