"Stress from Gapjil Parents" Japan Also Faces Sharp Drop of 6,000 Teacher Applicants Next Year

Asahi Shimbun "Issues Raised Such as Long Working Hours"
Busy Preparing Measures to Fill Teacher Shortage

In Japan, the number of applicants for public school teacher positions has significantly decreased, making teacher shortages a social issue. As more teachers leave due to poor working conditions such as long working hours, low wages, and unreasonable complaints from parents, the number of applicants has also sharply declined, making it very difficult to operate school classes. Although various measures have been proposed to fill the shortage of teachers in the future, there are concerns that fundamental solutions will be difficult to achieve.

On the 20th, the Asahi Shimbun reported the results of its own survey showing that the number of applicants for the 2024 public school teacher recruitment exam in Japan decreased by 6,061 compared to the previous year. According to the Asahi Shimbun, the total number of applicants for next year's recruitment exam was 127,855, which is 4.5% lower than the previous year. Among the 68 institutions nationwide that conduct recruitment exams, nearly 60%?38 institutions?recorded the lowest number of applicants in five years. The number of applicants decreased across all fields, including elementary, junior high, and high schools, as well as school nurses.

A survey conducted with boards of education in each prefecture revealed that the most common reason for the decrease in applicants was "college students are reluctant to enter the teaching profession due to issues such as long working hours and complaints from parents." This was followed by "increased competition due to expanded hiring in non-teaching occupations."

In fact, teachers in Japan are evaluated as having to endure excessive work and stress. According to a survey on the working conditions of public school teachers released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in April, 77% of junior high school teachers and 64% of elementary school teachers reported working overtime.

As the number of teachers rapidly decreases, local governments have urgently taken various measures. In Saitama City, which increased the number of teachers by 100 compared to the previous year, the recruitment process was divided into 15 categories to greatly expand eligibility. Saitama City significantly lowered the threshold by allowing people without teaching licenses but with related majors from universities or research institutions to apply.

Yamaguchi Prefecture even started supporting the acquisition of teaching licenses. Here, people who have worked in private companies for a certain period can take the teacher recruitment exam. Those who pass the exam can obtain a teaching license within a two-year grace period and then start teaching. During this grace period, Yamaguchi Prefecture provides tuition assistance of 260,000 yen (about 2.3 million won) per year. This initiative caused quite a stir, attracting 57 applicants for five available positions.

There is also a movement to lower the eligibility from the fourth year of university to the third year. The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education conducted the teacher recruitment exam for third-year university students for the first time this year. If applicants pass part of the first written exam, they are exempted from that part in the exam taken in their fourth year.

Some places have drastically reduced the exam scope. The Niigata Prefectural Board of Education reduced the subjects for the first elementary teacher exam from five subjects?Japanese, social studies, science, English, etc.?to two subjects: mathematics and Japanese, starting earlier this year.

However, while these measures may help secure applicants, there are concerns that they could lower the quality of education in the long term. Yasuyuki Iwata, a professor at Tokyo Gakugei University, told Asahi, "Exempting parts of the recruitment exam or reducing the exam scope may allow applicants with insufficient basic academic skills to become teachers, which could degrade the quality of education, so caution is needed. Instead, fundamental solutions should be sought by promoting work style reforms, improving treatment such as salaries, and increasing the number of full-time teachers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.