Japan teachers working hours longest in OECD surveyed nations
Japan’s elementary and junior high school teachers clocked the longest average working hours among countries participating in an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) survey in 2024, highlighting persistent challenges in curbing excessive workloads, the survey showed on Tuesday.
In terms of working hours of the teachers, Japan has ranked top since it began to participate in the OECD survey held once in every five or six years.
According to the Teaching and Learning International Survey, elementary school teachers in Japan worked an average of 52.1 hours per week, the longest among 16 countries and regions participating in the survey, with junior high school teachers’ 55.1 hours, the longest among 55 participating countries and regions.
The averages of surveyed countries and regions were 40.4 hours for elementary school and 41 hours for junior high school teachers, according to the survey.
The figures of Japan remain significantly higher than the international average, though the working hours at both levels of school in Japan declined four hours since 2018 when the last survey was conducted.
