Tokyo, public schools short of teachers

A survey conducted by the Japanese government reveals a growing shortage of teachers and professors in primary and secondary schools. The last competition to be held recorded the lowest ever ratio of candidates to available posts. A crack in a school system renowned for its efficiency.

Tokyo (AsiaNews) - There is a lack of full-time teachers in the public education system, according to survey data presented on Monday by the Japanese government. To be precise, in April last year (i.e. at the beginning of the current school year) the number of missing teachers in elementary, middle and high schools was 2558 in 1897 schools. This means that about 5.8% of all schools in which the survey was conducted have problems with teaching staff.

According to the results, the problem affects primary schools in particular, where 1218 of those vacancies are concentrated, and secondary schools, where 868 teachers are missing. The figures show that the shortage of full-time teachers has eased slightly over the course of the year, and by May the number had already dropped to 2065. As reported by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, however, this decrease is often the result of ad hoc adjustments, such as recalling retired teachers or the doubling of duties for teachers and school managers.

This is the first time the Japanese government has conducted a survey on the lack of teachers in the country's schools. The apparent causes are said to be maternity leave, parental leave and sick leave, but in reality this masks another, much deeper and more serious problem: the lack of substitutes. In essence, there is a lack of teachers and professors.

Aki Sakuma, a lecturer at Keio University in Tokyo, has long studied the problem of the shortage of school staff. The inability of the public education system to attract young aspiring teachers lies at the heart of the problem. According to Sakuma, "the government needs to take drastic measures, such as raising salaries [for teachers]", in order to stimulate the interest of recent graduates wishing to pursue this career.

The profession has become less and less attractive over the years, as the numbers show. Only 134,000 people took part in the 2020 civil service teacher exam, which is barely half the number recorded 40 years ago. Moreover, the ratio of the number of participants to available positions was among the lowest ever for primary and secondary schools.

Japan has a long and noble tradition of equal access to education, guaranteed by an efficiently functioning public school system that has enabled the country to have a 96.7% graduation rate over the decades. Although Tokyo invests less in education than the OECD average, it has managed to fairly distribute the resources needed to ensure equal educational opportunities for all its citizens. For this very reason, the numbers that emerged from the survey are worrying, despite their still small size: the Japanese public school has so far been able to offer a quality service relying on its own teaching staff. The shortage of teachers therefore risks undermining a pillar of this system, which has enabled generations of young Japanese people to be educated in a school environment that is careful not to leave anyone behind.