Japan Press Weekly

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2013 December 18 - 24 [LABOR]

5,000 teachers take sick days due to emotional distress

Nearly 5,000 teachers at public schools in Japan went on leave due to mental distress causing disorders such as depression in FY 2012, the Education Ministry’s survey revealed on December 17.

The ministry surveyed about 927,000 teachers in public high, junior high, and elementary schools as well as schools for children with diabilities.

In FY 2012, 8,341 teachers took sick days, and 4,960 or 59.5% of them suffered from mental health problems.

Of teachers who went on leave by the end of FY 2012, over 40% of them were still absent from work as of April 1 this year, and more than 20% had resigned.

The number of newly-hired teachers who quit their jobs due to mental disorders during their one-year training period has increased year by year to 106 in 2012.

Imatani Kenji, secretary general of the All Japan Teachers and Staff Union (Zenkyo), said that teachers work 91 hours of overtime a month on average according to the union’s survey result. He pointed out that such a harsh working condition resulted in the continuing high rate of sick leave among teachers, citing the fact that 78% of teachers in their 20s taking sick leave are suffering from mental illnesses. Zenkyo will call on the government to drastically increase the number of teachers and to take measures to tackle the excessively long hours of work problem, he stressed.

Past related article
> Teachers work 91 hours of overtime a month [October 18, 2013]