THE JAPAN NEWS


 

The number of teachers at Japanese schools for Japanese children overseas (see below) is lacking, forcing these schools to hire local Japanese residents without official teaching certificates as teachers.

The main reason for this is continued stagnation in the number of teachers being dispatched to these schools by the government. But there is growing concern about the quality of education provided by unlicensed teachers.

To solve the shortage of teachers, the education ministry started a system this academic year in which they send young Japanese with teaching certificates who have little experience in schools — including new graduates — as official teachers to Japanese schools overseas.

These schools are established by local Japanese associations with the aim of providing the same educational content as that of elementary and junior high schools in Japan. The government dispatches teachers who have taught for about five years in Japan and were recommended by prefectural boards of education to the overseas schools.

However, in recent years, mainly because teachers on the front line have become busier, the number of teachers being recommended by boards of education has been decreasing. In the 2018 academic year, Japanese schools overseas had 75.2 percent of the dispatched teachers needed for the number of children, down 8.6 percentage points from 10 years ago.

The number of Japanese children living overseas is increasing. According to a Foreign Ministry survey, there were 82,571 children in the compulsory education age group of 6 to 15 years old in the 2017 academic year, up about 40 percent from 10 years ago.

The total number of students at Japanese schools overseas was 19,759 in the 2018 academic year, up by 839 from 10 years ago. Other Japanese children attend different kinds of schools, such as local schools and international schools, the survey said.

There are currently 73 teachers dispatched from Japan to the Thai Japanese Association School in Bangkok, which has 2,631 students and fewer than 80 percent of the dispatched teachers it needs.

The school has recently hired about 70 local people, including Japanese and Thais, to teach classes such as English, Thai language, music and home economics. Some of the new teachers do not have official teaching certificates from the Japanese government.

Recent graduates recruited

Some guardians of the students at the Thai Japanese school are concerned about whether their children are really receiving a level of education in line with teaching guidelines in Japan. The education ministry has also said that it wants all teachers at Japanese schools overseas to have teaching certificates, in order to maintain the quality of education there.

Therefore, this academic year the ministry started a “pre-dispatch system” for those who have teaching certificates at elementary and junior high schools in Japan and are up to 29 years old, including new graduates.

From this group, the ministry selects teachers to be sent to Japanese schools overseas, using short essays, interviews and surveys to judge whether they are work-ready. One of the criteria is whether they have confidence in their teaching ability even if they have no experience in instructing students.

This academic year, the ministry sent a total of 11 teachers, including three new graduates, to 10 Japanese schools in Thailand, India, Vietnam, China and Taiwan for periods of one to five years.

Kaho Tokoshima, 22, a new graduate from Kagoshima University, has been dispatched to the Thai school. As a homeroom teacher for a third-grade class, she is in charge of lessons and class management.
“I feel I am trusted by the school,” she said.

School principal Kaoru Muroga said, “[Tokoshima] is popular among the students and is an important member of the teaching staff here.”
Ayami En, 22, also a new graduate, has been sent to the Hong Kong Japanese School in Tai Po, Hong Kong, and is in charge of music.

She supports mathematics and Japanese language lessons for first- to third-grade classes, and often gives lessons in place of homeroom teachers.

Fumiko Nakatani, the principal of the school, said, “[The new teachers] made it possible for us to give finely tuned lessons by dividing each class into two groups.”

In addition, the education ministry intends to revise a ministry ordinance so that university students will be able to conduct teaching practice at schools including Japanese schools overseas from the next academic year, with the aim of solving the shortage at Japanese schools overseas and increasing the number of teachers with an international awareness.

■ Japanese schools overseas

There were 89 such full-time educational facilities located in 51 countries and regions as of April 2017. They are managed mainly with funds contributed by Japanese companies. Children receive education in line with teaching guidelines and textbooks that have been screened by the education ministry.

They receive the same diplomas as from corresponding schools in Japan. As Japanese legislation does not apply to these schools, they can employ people who do not have teaching certificates.