Japan primary school with only 8 pupils enrols baby goat as student, adds ‘lively vibes’ delighting children

New kid on the block: children at the school have embraced their new classmate. Photo: News Now

• Declining birth rates and population outflow lead to empty rural classrooms
• School admits four-legged 'pupil', holds joyous orientation ceremony

A rural primary school in Japan has enrolled a baby goat as its only new "student", delighting pupils and amusing mainland social media.

Due to declining birth rates and population outflow, there are fewer new students attending schools in countryside Japan.

A primary school in Isa, Kagoshima Prefecture, is one such institution struggling to fill its classes.

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At present, the school has only eight students across six years and failed to enrol any new children for the spring term.

In an effort to delight the students and add lively vibes to the campus, the school decided to welcome an unconventional new classmate - a female baby goat.

The kid, given the name Minami by the school principal, was born at the end of last year. The father of a sixth-grade student who owns a nearby farm, gave it to the school as a gift.

The students have warmly embraced their new classmate, taking it out to graze and working together to build a new home for it.

Initially, Minami would occasionally burst into classrooms during lessons, causing disruption and creating amusement.

Now accustomed to school life, the goat spends its days grazing, sleeping and strolling around the campus.

The school formally admitted Minami by holding a unique orientation ceremony for her on April 24, attended by pupils, parents and local residents.

At the celebration, the farmer who donated Minami, carried the kid into the venue to a rapturous welcome and formally handed it over to the school principal.

The students lined up, sang the school anthem, presenting hay as a gift to Minami, who occasionally bleated in response.

During his welcoming speech, the principal greeted the animal entrant with goat-like sounds, and a teacher acted as a "translator", congratulating the animal on joining the school.

Minami was reminded not to wander into the road.

The pupils are excited about campus life with the goat: "I really want to play and take walks with her," one said.

"I'm very happy. It feels like I have gained another family member," said another.

The story, reported by NHK World-Japan and reposted in China, has also been widely read on mainland social media.

"With few students and a low birth rate, bringing in animals to keep the kids from getting bored is a great idea. They could even add some dogs, cows, ducks, chickens and kittens," one person wrote.

"Life is more magical than TV dramas. Imagine saying, 'My classmate was a goat'. This truly achieves peaceful coexistence between humans and animals," said another.

Some online observers jokingly expressed concern about the goat's future after graduation.

"Years later, will these elementary students reunite with their four-legged classmate in a restaurant?" said one.

"Does the teacher speak goat language? What are they teaching the goat to aspire to be?" someone else quipped.

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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