Teachers Committing Indecent Acts: Schools Obliged to Check Individual History of Punishment

Editorial

17:05 JST, July 28, 2025

There has been no end to cases of school teachers committing indecent acts against children, causing great anxiety among parents and guardians. Despite these circumstances, can it not be said that schools and other places of education lack a sense of urgency to tackle the situation?

It has recently been discovered that 5,480 corporations operating private kindergartens and elementary, junior high and high schools did not use a national database to check whether people they may hire as teachers have been punished in the past for indecent acts against children. The figure accounts for 75% of the corporations that responded to a survey conducted by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry.

The database currently lists 2,698 people, including former teachers who have had their teaching licenses revoked for committing indecent acts. The database has been in use since fiscal 2023 so that boards of education across the nation and private school corporations could search the records to help them determine the suitability of candidates when hiring teachers.

Of the corporations that responded to the ministry’s survey, 42% had not even registered themselves as database users, and 33% had registered but did not use the system. Using the database is required by law, and failure to do so constitutes a violation, but many corporations said they were unaware of this obligation.

There have been cases in the past where teachers who had committed sex crimes were hired in another prefecture and committed similar crimes again. To prevent such situations from occurring, utilizing the database is essential.

It is appalling that many private schools have neglected to use the database. It can be said that their lack of awareness of the situation has been exposed. No matter how good a system is, if it is not used, it is meaningless.

As for public schools, the boards of education in Hokkaido and Nagoya were among those that did not make proper use of the database. Viewing the situation as serious, the ministry has decided to also look into the precise picture of the system’s use by national and public schools nationwide.

As well as checking whether the database is being used, it is also necessary to ensure that teachers with problems have not already been hired.

In fiscal 2023, 157 teachers were punished for committing indecent acts against children. Earlier this year, a shocking case came to light in which elementary school teachers in Nagoya and others allegedly shared videos of children secretly filmed on a social media group chat.

The government is said to be launching a system dubbed the Japanese version of the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) in late 2026, for employers to inquire about the sex-related criminal history of individuals working in jobs involving contact with children. Inquiries will apply not only to candidates to be hired but also to those already employed.

Making inquiries with the envisaged system will be mandatory for schools and childcare facilities, while private businesses such as cram schools and sports clubs can use the system on a voluntary basis. Combined with the database of teachers’ records of punishment, the wide use of the planned system will help protect children.

The government must strive to make these two systems thoroughly known among relevant establishments and encourage their use.

The mental and physical trauma suffered by children who have been betrayed by adults they trust runs deep. The despicable sexual violence that abuses hierarchical relationships must not be tolerated. Once again, schools and other places of education must share that understanding.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 28, 2025)