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Seri Yoon, Waseda University, JapanAbstract
In recent years, Japan has implemented VR-based schooling as an alternative for students. Government-accredited schools like N High School enable students to attend classes, interact via avatars, and join digital campuses simulating real-life learning. This model has expanded in response to social isolation, such as bullying, school refusal, or geographic barriers, offering a pathway for those unable or unwilling to attend traditional schools. While praised for its innovation, VR schooling must be meaningfully assessed for its contribution to educational equity. Without attention to how it expands real opportunities and freedoms, digital transformation risks replicating existing inequalities. Through a qualitative method grounded in Amartya Sen’s Capability Framework, this research evaluates how Japan’s VR schooling enhances students’ substantive freedoms, particularly in relation to learning access and life choices. Using document analysis and a review of institutional policies, the study explores how such education systems foster not only access to learning, but also sustained engagement and expanded opportunities for students to pursue educational and career pathways. This offers an important model for other countries grappling with educational exclusion, especially in Southeast Asia, where remote communities, disaster-prone areas, and limited school infrastructure persist. The study suggests that VR-based education, when integrated into national systems and supported through ICT cooperation, can contribute to SDG 4 by restoring educational capabilities to those excluded from mainstream pathways. By framing technology not as an end in itself but as a means to expand freedom and inclusion, this research provides policy-relevant insights into sustainable, student-centered digital transformation.
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