Teachers’ Working Hours: Work Style Reform in Schools Still Only Halfway There

Editorial

15:17 JST, October 24, 2025

While the working hours of teachers in Japan are being shortened, the situation in which they work the longest hours in the world has not changed.

To advance work style reform at schools, support from local boards of education and communities is essential, such as through the streamlining of teachers’ administrative tasks.

According to the Teaching and Learning International Survey conducted last year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Japanese elementary and junior high school teachers had the longest working hours among the countries and regions covered by the survey. Elementary school teachers worked an average of 52.1 hours per week, while junior high school teachers worked 55.1 hours per week.

Working hours for both elementary and junior high school teachers decreased by an average of four hours compared to the previous survey in 2018. While it is praiseworthy that some progress has been made in work style reform, both figures are still over 10 hours longer than the OECD averages.

It has been noted that Japanese teachers’ long working hours are attributable largely to administrative tasks, such as preparing documents, and extracurricular activities, such as club activities.

Regarding extracurricular activities at junior high schools, there has been progress in initiatives including the expansion of the role of communities by transferring club activity instruction to local clubs and the introduction of club activity instructors, who serve as external supervisors. As a result, hours dedicated each week to such activities decreased by 2.5 hours from the previous survey to 5.6 hours.

In contrast, time spent each week on administrative tasks decreased by only 0.9 hours for both elementary and junior high school teachers, to 4.5 hours and 5.2 hours, respectively. How to reduce these hours further is a challenge to be addressed.

Among administrative tasks, the most burdensome are reportedly preparing reports for submission to boards of education and creating reports on training sessions teachers have taken part in. It is necessary to advance measures to reduce such burdens, such as by consolidating surveys currently conducted separately by prefectural and municipal boards of education.

It is hoped that the outsourcing of tasks will also be promoted. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry notified boards of education of new guidelines that classified tasks such as “responding to unreasonable demands from parents and guardians” as duties that should be handled outside of schools.

Regarding issues such as bullying and how to respond to parents and guardians, introducing “school lawyers” to provide legal advice and guidance from the perspective of the school side is worth considering.

The Japanese school education system emphasizes holistic education, fostering not only knowledge and skills but also compassion for others and moral values. While highly regarded internationally, it undeniably places a burden on teachers.

The efforts of schools alone have limits. To advance work style reform while preserving the good aspects of Japanese-style education, the respective support of the central and local governments and communities is indispensable. Individual boards of education must not leave reforms to the discretion of schools, but must support a review of teachers’ duties and the placement of external personnel.

The shortage of those willing to become teachers is growing increasingly severe as people are avoiding the excessive workload. Improvements in the treatment and working conditions of teachers will likely help attract talented individuals to the field and enhance the quality of education.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 24, 2025)