Having to work an average of more than 95 hours a month with a mountain of work and paperwork, many teachers in Japan are no longer interested in their profession.
The Nihon Keizai newspaper reported earlier this year that elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide were short about 2,800 teachers, up 30% from a year ago. In addition, nearly 5,900 teachers in the country quit their jobs due to mental health issues in 2021, the highest number ever, including nearly 3,000 elementary school teachers.
The biggest problem that makes many people lose interest in teaching is said to be the long working hours. Teachers have to be at school before class starts at 8am and stay long after students leave. In addition, they have to prepare lessons, grade papers and complete paperwork fromeducation management agencies.
A study released by Japan’s Ministry of Education in January found that teachers work an average of 95 hours and 32 minutes of overtime each month. According to the country’s Health Ministry , workers are at risk of “karoshi,” or death from overwork, if they work more than 80 hours of overtime each month.
The Japan Teachers' Union says more than 12% of teachers have asked school administrators to reduce their workload, by hiring more people and reducing class sizes.
“However, due to the lack of funding allocated to education, we have not yet succeeded in bringing about this change,” said Keiko Uchida, an official of the Teachers' Union.
A classroom in Japan. Photo: Kyodo
Japan is considered to be behind many other developed countries in terms of spending on education.
"Of the 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), only Hungary spends less on education and research than Japan," said a teacher working in Hokkaido.
According to this teacher, the most tiring part for teachers is that after school, they have to fill out unnecessary reports and paperwork from the local education authority. Teachers often have to work until evening. In addition, they have to supervise cultural and sports clubs for students on weekends but are not paid for those extra hours.
He cited his father as also a teacher but he rarely had a full weekend off because he was busy with the baseball club.
Many Japanese teachers are no longer interested in the profession due to long working hours and a lot of paperwork. Photo: Kyodo
Teachers at a Japanese high school earn an average of $3,000 a month, an income that many say is not low but is outpacing inflation, which has pushed up prices for food, fuel and other necessities over the past 18 months.
The rising cost of living is forcing some teachers to take on extra jobs to supplement their income, even breaking the law.
A math teacher was arrested in Nagoya in February after he approached a female undercover police officer on the street and encouraged her to join a hostess club. The man, in his 20s, had been a male host at the club about three nights a week since last August. He was released, but the city’s education board is considering disciplinary action.
Binh Minh (According to SCMP )
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