Committing Fornication, 273 Teachers In Japan Are Prohibited From Re-Teaching

Classroom illustration in Japan. (Wikimedia Commons / Aka Hige)

JAKARTA - The House of Councilors of Japan, enacted a law that would make it difficult for teachers and educators who were fired for sexual offenses at work to return to their professions.

This law was enacted following repeated cases of violations by teachers against students in Japan.

Later, the law passed by the House of Councilors will allow the prefectural education council to refuse violating teacher license renewal applications.

The law also empowers the central government to create a national database of teachers dismissed for sexual offenses.

Launching Kyodonews Friday May 28, until March 2020 there were 273 teachers in Japanese public schools being subjected to disciplinary action or reprimands for acts of sexual immorality or harassment, the second highest on record, according to the Japanese Ministry of Education.

Under the current law governing teaching permits, those who are terminated for sexual offenses can regain a teaching permit from Japanese authorities after a period of three years from being issued.

In one case, a teacher was found to have repeatedly acted indecently against students, after being hired by the city government without disclosing their historical offenses.

Under the new law, the teacher will be granted a new permit only if the local education council judges that he or she has been properly rehabilitated. The board decided upon hearing a third-party panel's judgment on the subject.