Teachers at public elementary and junior high schools continue to work long hours, with the average working hours per day exceeding 11 hours, and more than 40% of teachers answered that their break time was "0 minutes." That's what the teacher's union survey found.
This survey was conducted by the Japan Teachers' Union on the Internet this fall, and a total of 9,702 teachers, including elementary and junior high school and high school students, responded.
When asked about the work situation this year, the average practical working hours per weekday, including take-out overtime, is
▽ 11 hours 46 minutes (down 10 minutes compared to the previous year) at junior high school,
▽ 11 hours 20 minutes at elementary school. (+1 minute compared to the previous year),
▽10 hours and 17 minutes at high school (-17 minutes compared to the previous year), etc.
Compared to last year's survey, there was a decrease in middle school and high school students, but the result was that long working hours still continued.
In addition, the average break time per day was
▽ 9.4 minutes at elementary school, ▽
13 minutes at junior
high school, and ▽ 28 minutes at high school.
Of these, more than 40% of elementary and junior high school students responded that the break time was "0 minutes", the highest percentage in the last three years.
Yasuko Nishijima, director of the Labor Bureau of the Japan Teachers' Union, said, "It's not hard to imagine that teachers' long working hours have a negative impact on children. It is essential to reduce the number of duties and improve the number of faculty and staff members."
More than 70% of club activities move to regional areas “cannot secure leaders”
On the other hand, in this survey, we also heard for the first time about the challenges of transitioning club activities on holidays, and more than 70% of junior high school teachers answered that they were unable to secure instructors.
When we asked junior high school faculty and staff about the challenges in transitioning club activities to regional areas with multiple answers,
▽ 72.5% answered that they cannot secure instructors,
followed by
▽
39.9% that they do not know the image of the transition and the future.
36.3% answered that there are regional disparities such as instructors and facilities.
Regarding the results of the survey, the Japan Teachers' Union said, ``In small cities and towns, it is possible that they will not be able to carry out their desired club activities because they cannot find instructors to replace teachers or places for activities outside of school. I want you to take action to prevent it from spreading."