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Trouble in the Public Schools of Japan by: Kevin R. Burns
From Japan Today.com:
No. of teachers suffering stress hits highest level in 2009
Saturday 25th December, 07:14 AM JST
TOKYO —
The number of public school teachers in Japan who took sick leave due to depression and other mental disorders in the academic year through March 2010 rose for the 17th straight year to set a record high, an education ministry survey said Friday.
The number of such teachers at elementary schools as well as junior and senior high schools totaled 5,458, up 58 from the preceding year, accounting for 63% of the 8,627 teachers who took sick leave during the year, according to the Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology Ministry.
The pace of rise slowed in the reporting year and a ministry official said it could be attributable to ‘‘the effects of improving counseling treatment (for teachers).’‘
Among the teachers who took leave citing psychological reasons, the largest portion of 39% were in their 50s, followed by 35% in their 40s, 19% in their 30s and 7% in their 20s.
Out of the total, 44% were teachers at elementary schools, with 30% at junior high schools and 16% at senior high schools.
In the reporting year, 7,981 teachers received disciplinary measures across Japan, almost double the level of the previous year, as the Hyogo prefectural education board punished more than 3,600 high school teachers over their sloppy scoring of entrance exams.
The local education board found last year that there have been 3,500 cases of marking errors in entrance exams since the 2004 academic year and after, and that one student failed who would have passed if the exam had been marked correctly.
Among the 7,981 teachers, 166 were dismissed and 148 were suspended from work.
A total of 47 teachers received disciplinary action in connection with their opposition to raising the national flag or singing the national anthem at school ceremonies and other occasions, according to the survey.
