Japan’s education ministry posts job openings at schools for pandemic-hit workers

Local education boards and institutions will upload specific information on jobs at schools to the website to seek applications from companies. Once both parties have agreed on the job details, corporate employees will work at the schools on a part-time basis or on secondment from companies. 

Education minister Koichi Hagiuda announced this job-matching initiative last month, apparently with the interests of flight attendants from pandemic-hit Japanese airlines in mind.  

At a recent news conference, Hagiuda urged schools to actively use the initiative, saying, “The system will provide good opportunities for utilising know-how and expertise accumulated by companies for school education.” 

Both public and private educational institutions, from kindergartens to universities, can post information on a wide range of jobs on the website. These include positions like teachers, assistants for English education, information and communications technology assistants and business etiquette lecturers. Many of these jobs will not require a teaching licence, according to the ministry. 

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Companies registered with the system will receive regular job-opening updates from education boards and institutions via email. Job descriptions and other work conditions will be negotiated directly between the two parties. 

After the system produces certain results, the ministry plans to introduce some successful cases to further promote the programme, according to The Japan Times.