The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, MEXT, has released the “Survey Results on Work Style Reform of School by Board of Education, 2022.”

According to the “year-to-year comparison of overtime work” by school type, the percentage of “less than 45 hours of overtime work per month” is said to be on the rise. However, the percentage of teachers who work overtime more than 45 hours per month is still high and the 80 hours of overtime per month, which is regarded as the death line from overwork, has hardly improved. In accordance with the “Special Measures for Salaries ”, which stipulates those orders to work overtime or to work on holidays are not permitted, the MEXT should, in principle, seek to complete work within the prescribed working hours. To that end, first of all, immediate measures must be taken to prevent exceeding the upper limit of overtime hours.

According to the results of the RENGO Research Institute’s “Survey on Working Styles and Working Hours of Teachers and Education School Personnel” (interim report, 2022), 12.6% of teachers responded that they had “requested to report shorter hours at school” from school administrators. In addition, there were many voices calling for “increasing the number of teachers and education school personnel” and “improving class size, including reducing the number of teaching hours per teacher” in the survey results. JTU reiterates its appeal to the MEXT and the Board of Education to correct the falsification, reduce workload to protect the lives and health of teachers and education support personnel and increase the number of them.

Regarding the formulation of upper limit guidelines based on Article 7 of the “Special Measures for Salaries”, it became clear that the situation has hardly changed since last year, with as many as 10% of prefectures still considering the establishment of ordinances, and the establishment of regulations for boards of education in municipalities not progressing. Also, there are still municipal boards of education that have not been able to grasp the actual working conditions in an objective way. As the first step toward “Work Style Reform of School,” JTU once again calls for the establishment of an upper limit guideline into ordinance, and the urgent development of board of education regulations.

It is only when teachers are able to regain their free time and have decent work that they are able to interact with children and dedicate themselves to their professional duties with passion. JTU strengthens its efforts to reduce workload, improve class size including reduce the number of teaching hours per teacher and revise drastically or abolish the “Special Measures for Salaries”, in order to realise “workplace where everyone can continue to work without anxiety and stress” and “work style to finish work within working hours”.