Information that there is a shortage of teachers in Japanese schools was published by the School Voice Project, which brings together teachers and other education experts. More than half of educational institutions in Japan (64%) say that they need teachers to teach lessons in primary and secondary schools. Respondents in the survey claim that they have several open vacancies for the position of a teacher.
Earlier, in 2022-2023, there were either no vacancies at all, or there were no more than one.
Of course, the shortage of teachers greatly complicates the work of schools. Teachers cannot take sick leave or vacation, because they do not have a replacement, sometimes they have to conduct lessons for several classes at the same time, which is insanely difficult, many teachers are forced to take a load much more than they should, which leads to burnout and increases stress levels.
This also has a negative impact on the students themselves: when there are too many other children in the class, it is difficult for them to focus on tasks, teachers cannot pay due attention to them and personalize the curriculum.
One of the professors at Nihon University, who took part in the survey, believes that in order to minimize the problem, it is necessary to hire teachers who have already retired, and convene a council that will defend the rights of teachers and, in general, create rules and conditions for the comfortable work of teachers.
Of the 1,325 teachers surveyed, no one named the reason why their colleagues did not want to get a job in schools. But maybe this question was simply not in the questionnaire? We can only guess why Japanese teachers do not want to work in educational institutions.
