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Japanese teachers continue to work the most hours among educators in major countries and regions, according to a survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The weekly working times for full-time teachers in Japan were 55.1 hours at junior high schools and 52.1 hours at elementary schools, according to the 2024 OECD survey released on Oct. 7.

Both times were four hours shorter than in the previous OECD survey in 2018 due to workstyle reforms.

However, as in the previous 2018 survey, Japan recorded the longest hours among all participating countries and regions.

Japanese junior high teachers worked 14.1 hours more a week than the international average while Japanese elementary teachers worked 11.7 hours more than the norm.

Specifically, Japanese junior high teachers worked 9.8 hours more a week than their counterparts in the United States, 12 hours more than South Korean teachers, and 16.4 hours more than those in France.

The survey, called the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), is conducted every five years, mainly among OECD member countries.

The first survey was compiled in 2008. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest survey, the fourth in the series, was delayed by a year and co0nducted for the first time in six years.

The 2024 survey covered 55 countries and regions for junior high schools and 16 for elementary schools.

Around 200 schools were sampled for each level.

In Japan, 7,316 principals and teachers from public and private institutions responded.

The results showed that Japanese teachers were largely preoccupied with out-of-classroom activities.

They spent 17.8 hours a week on teaching, which is shorter than the international average of 22.7 hours.

However, lesson preparation in Japan took 8.2 hours a week (international average 7.4 hours); extracurricular activities, such as supervising clubs, consumed 5.6 hours (international average 1.7 hours); and administrative tasks, such as paperwork, took 5.2 hours (international average 3 hours).

Compared with the previous survey, Japanese teachers reduced their extracurricular activities time by 2.5 hours, lesson preparation by 0.7 hours, and administrative tasks by 0.9 hours.

But these times still remained above international averages.

The survey also revealed a growing sense of teacher shortages.

The survey asked teachers if they felt that a shortage of instructors was hindering high-quality education.

Among Japanese elementary school teachers, 40.7 percent answered “very much so” or “quite a lot,” up from 19.2 percent in the previous survey, while 35.6 percent of junior high teachers had the same replies, up from 27.5 percent.

Both figures for 2024 were about 12 points higher than the international average.

Japan’s education ministry has been working to reduce the long working hours of teachers. It set guidelines on overtime limits in 2019 and has promoted the transition of school club activities to community-based programs.

“Although Japan still has the longest hours globally, there has been significant improvement,” a ministry official said.

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