Teachers with mental problems on the rise

A survey by the education ministry has found that the number of teachers who took leaves due to mental problems has reached a record high.

Eight-thousand-six-hundred-twenty-seven teachers at public elementary, junior high, high, and special-needs schools across the country took leaves due to illness last fiscal year, up 49 from the figure the previous year.

A record 5,458, or 63.3 percent of them, were absent due to mental illness, such as adjustment disorder.

The number was 58 higher than the figure in the previous fiscal year.

School boards where those teachers work say stress caused by increased workload, burden of responding to various requests from parents, and, in the case of young teachers, the gap between the image they had of the job and the reality, are among the causes of the mental problems.

The ministry says that, although more and more education boards and schools are starting to understand the teachers' mental problems, further steps need to be taken to prevent illness and help those who have returned to work.