Today, a law was enacted to partially revise the Act on Special Measures Concerning Salaries and Other Conditions for Teachers at Public Compulsory Education Schools. It includes steps to reduce monthly overtime to about 30 hours in five years and promotes 35-student classes in junior high schools. These are positive, but limited, improvements.

However, the law still fails to address core issues. It does not align with standard labor laws, nor does it abolish or fully revise the outdated Special Salary Act. Teachers’ pays still does not match their actual workloads.

Other concerns include:

• No penalties for failing to reduce overtime.
• Some allowances are reduced or excluded.
• New roles may increase workloads.
• Risks of more take-home work and inaccurate time tracking.

Students are also under pressure from curriculum overload. We call for a review of teaching content and class hours.

All education boards must now plan to manage workloads and protect teacher health and well-being. But local funding differences may widen regional gaps. Stronger oversight is also needed.

The national government must take immediate action to reduce excessive work demands and ensure that schools have enough teachers and education support personnel, backed by sufficient funding. Reform of the Special Salary Act cannot be delayed any longer.

Our goal is not 30 hours of overtime, not even 20 hours—but all work completed within regular hours. We need genuine reductions in workload, more teachers and support staff, and accurate time tracking.

JTU will continue advocating for genuine reform—cutting excessive workloads, increasing the number of educators, and fundamentally revising or abolishing the Special Salary Act.