教員きょういんなり手て不足ふそく 採用さいよう試験しけん前倒まえだおし進すすまず 国くにが要請ようせいも… NHK調査ちょうさ

There is a shortage of teachers.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is requesting each local government to move forward this years teacher recruitment exams to May, before private companies start their recruitment interviews.

However, it was found that only five municipalities nationwide responded, and the number remains small.

The hiring ratio for public school teachers last year was 3.

The number of people willing to become teachers has continued to decline, with the figure being the lowest on record for three consecutive years, doubling in number.

In response to this situation, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology requested last year that the first round of teacher recruitment exams, which had been conducted around summer, be moved forward to mid-June. This year, they are further advancing the schedule and requesting that it be conducted around May 11th.

Furthermore, this fiscal year, five out of 68 municipalities will conduct the tests ahead of schedule. However, when NHK surveyed the implementation status of 68 boards of education across the countrys prefectures and ordinance-designated cities, it found that only five municipalities, including Niigata Prefecture, Shimane Prefecture, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, and the ordinance-designated city of Niigata City, will conduct the tests ahead of schedule in response to the national request.

Even when combined with the four municipalities that conducted tests in May last year, only nine prefectures and cities will conduct tests around May 11, as requested by the government this year, and many municipalities have postponed the advancement of the tests.

From these municipalities, opinions were heard such as Its just after the start of the new fiscal year, so we cant prepare for creating the exam questions in time, and Even if we can move the first exam forward, we cant advance the second exam.

In addition, as the teacher recruitment ratio has hit a record low for three consecutive years, there have been doubts about the effectiveness of moving the exams forward, with concerns such as even if the exams are moved forward, the number of applicants decreases or there are withdrawals, making it difficult to assess the impact.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said, We would like you to continue considering moving the exams forward.

It also states, We want efforts to be made to secure applicants by devising selection methods that suit the actual conditions of the municipality, such as allowing some exams to be taken during the third year of university.

Expert: Many might have judged it ineffective Professor Yasuyuki Iwata of Tokyo Gakugei University, an expert in teacher training systems, analyzed the fact that only some municipalities responded to the national request to advance the recruitment exam schedule further, saying, There have been municipalities where advancing the exam schedule did not go well or caused confusion, and many might have judged it ineffective.

On the other hand, regarding the diversification of recruitment exams, such as selection processes for third-year university students, it is understood as a reflection of the high sense of urgency by incorporating various methods. However, the approaches differ by municipality, and even within the same municipality, they change yearly, causing significant confusion for those taking the exams.

I am concerned that it may become a reason for students to hesitate in taking the entrance exam.

In addition, as something that the country and local governments should work on, students are carefully observing the content of education, facilities, and the status of securing human resources.

It is important to emphasize that you are providing forward-thinking and aggressive education.

To provide detailed support for children at the same time, it is also important to increase staffing and reduce the burden on teachers, he said.

Professor Iwata stated that addressing the worsening shortage of teachers is an urgent issue, and that it is time to revamp the teaching profession to be more competitive in the overall labor market.

We need to discuss not only changing the recruitment system but also how to shape future education and how to secure those responsible for it, he said.

According to a survey by the teachers union, more than 4,700 teachers were reportedly lacking in public schools nationwide last year.

The All Japan Teachers and Staff Union conducts an annual survey on the shortage of teachers, and compiles the results from a total of 45 boards of education in prefectures and ordinance-designated cities that received responses from boards of education or union members as of last October.

According to this, the number of teachers lacking in each board of educations plan amounts to at least 4,714 in public schools nationwide, including ▼2,241 in elementary schools, ▼1,294 in junior high schools, ▼383 in high schools, and ▼506 in special support schools.

When comparing only the 34 boards of education that responded in the previous years survey, the shortage amounts to 3,125 people, increasing by 1 in one year.

It has doubled.

Voices from the field include comments like Due to the lack of teachers, there are cases of sick leave like a domino effect, and opinions such as The Board of Education should take responsibility to ensure there are no vacancies. Securing teachers has become a challenge.

Some municipalities offer job offers to third-year students. While the advancement of teacher recruitment exams remains limited to certain municipalities, there is a growing trend to provide examination opportunities at the third-year university level, and some municipalities even offer job offers during the third year.

According to an NHK survey conducted with 68 boards of education across prefectures and ordinance-designated cities, more than 80% of the municipalities, totaling 58, allow third-year university students to take part of the exams this fiscal year, and in six municipalities including Kanagawa Prefecture, Niigata Prefecture, and Kochi Prefecture, job offers have already been made.

In these municipalities, obtaining a recommendation from the university and becoming a teacher in that municipality after receiving a job offer are conditions for taking the exam. On one hand, the municipalities can quickly secure outstanding students, while on the other hand, those taking the exam also feel the benefits.

Prospective employee: Its an opportunity for students. One such opportunity has been introduced in Yokohama City since the year before last, where third-year university students are effectively given job offers.

Maho Fujita 22, who started working as a new teacher at an elementary school in Yokohama City this month, also took the newly introduced recruitment exam when she was a third-year university student.

In Yokohama City, it is said that there were concerns about the impact of the teaching practice conducted in June, as the regular recruitment exams are held in July.

In fact, it is said that Fujita-sans teaching practice, which took place after receiving a job offer during their fourth year at university, continued until the day before the hiring exam.

Mr. Fujita reflects that if he had taken the exam at that time, he might not have been able to fully prepare for the recruitment test, nor could he have dedicated himself to the teaching practice itself.

Fujita-san utilized his free time during his fourth year to participate in support activities for children attending free schools, and he says that he was able to spend his student life with an awareness of actually working.

Fujita-san: Because I passed the exam, I was able to have the realization that in my university studies afterward, I need to do this kind of thing a year later.

Such recruitment forms increase opportunities for examinees and I think it will be an opportunity to turn their attention to the municipalities conducting the exams. Municipalities advancing the first exam to May are hastily preparing In response to the national request, municipalities that will advance the first round of teacher recruitment exams to May this fiscal year are hastily preparing.

Among these, Yamaguchi Prefecture has decided to conduct it on May 10th, the earliest in the country, about two months earlier than before, and on the 15th, staff were checking in the morning to ensure there were no omissions in the application documents.

According to the prefectural board of education, the number of applicants for last years teacher recruitment exam was 1,032, the lowest ever, and has decreased to nearly two-thirds compared to ten years ago.

For this reason, Yamaguchi Prefecture decided to move the exam forward to May last summer and has been making preparations. Additionally, this fiscal year, third-year university students are also allowed to take the first exam.

Yasutake Hironori, the head of the Faculty Staff Division at the Yamaguchi Prefecture Board of Education, recognizes that securing applicants is an urgent issue to ensure the quality of education.

We have not been able to analyze the effect of advancing to May, but we hope that carrying it out will yield results rather than doing nothing, he said.