A school in Japan. [Kyodo/Yonhap]
A school in Japan. [Kyodo/Yonhap]

Japan's government, grappling with a serious teacher shortage, is considering a plan to waive student loan repayments for young people who enter the teaching profession. The proposal would allow teachers who remain in the job for an extended period to have part or all of their borrowed tuition costs forgiven, with the aim of making teaching a more attractive career.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is reviewing a system that would ease the repayment burden for teachers at national, public and private elementary, middle and high schools on student loans taken out during university.

Japan's scholarship system is broadly divided into two types: "grant-type" scholarships that do not require repayment, and "loan-type" scholarships that graduates must pay back themselves. Under the proposed system, a certain amount — or the full sum — of a loan-type scholarship would be forgiven based on factors such as the length of a teacher's service.

Whether the support would be limited to newly appointed teachers or extended to those already working in schools is to be decided through further discussion.

4,317 teachers short at the start of the school year — exam competition ratio hits record low

The push for such a strong incentive comes against the backdrop of a worsening teacher shortage.

A ministry survey found that at the start of the 2025 school year, public elementary, middle and high schools and special-needs schools nationwide were short 4,317 teachers compared with their original staffing plans. Teacher shortages occurred at 2,828 schools, or 8.8 percent of all schools. As of May 1, the shortfall still stood at 3,827.

By school level, the shortfalls were 1,911 at elementary schools, 1,157 at middle schools, 571 at high schools and 678 at special-needs schools.

A key factor is the wave of retirements among teachers hired en masse in earlier decades, combined with a growing difficulty in finding substitute teachers to cover absences for maternity, parental or sick leave. A broader labor shortage across Japanese society has also drawn more young people toward private-sector jobs and away from teaching.

The popularity of teacher recruitment exams has also declined sharply. The overall competition ratio for public school teacher recruitment exams in 2025 hit a record low of 2.9 to 1, according to the ministry. The number of applicants — 109,123 — was the lowest since records began, while the number of positions offered — 37,375 — was the highest since 1986.

The ministry believes that concerns about working conditions in schools, alongside the expansion of hiring to offset mass retirements, have contributed to the drop in applicants. Negative perceptions of long hours and heavy workloads are seen as one of the factors discouraging young people from choosing teaching.

Japan has tried loan forgiveness for teachers before — then scrapped it

A scholarship repayment waiver for teachers is not an entirely new concept in Japan.

In the past, a "special repayment exemption system" allowed students who received scholarships from the Japan Ikueikai (Japan Scholarship Foundation) to have their repayments waived if they went on to work in certain education or research positions after graduation. However, the program was effectively discontinued for new undergraduate recipients from the 1998 enrollment year — and later abolished — amid fairness concerns over benefits being limited to workers in specific professions, as well as improvements in the supply of teachers.

As the teacher shortage has grown serious again in recent years, the government has been gradually reviving the scholarship support option.

Since the 2025 school year, a system has been in place that fully waives Type 1 scholarship repayments taken out during graduate school for those who complete a teacher training graduate program or a qualifying graduate course and are subsequently hired as full-time teachers. In 2025, 366 people qualified for the waiver. The ministry has also continued to examine repayment support for scholarships taken out at the undergraduate level.

If the latest proposal is realized, the pool of eligible recipients could expand significantly.

Average loan of 3.3 million yen — repaid over 15 years — makes funding the key hurdle

Student loan repayment is a considerable burden for young people in Japan. An analysis by the Japan Student Services Organization of university students who finished borrowing in March 2024 found that the average amount borrowed per person was about 3.3 million yen ($21,200), with an average repayment period of 15 years.

For those who choose teaching, relief from such a prolonged repayment burden could represent a significant financial incentive, particularly for first-year teachers. That is why the ministry is considering loan forgiveness as one of its core tools for making the profession more appealing.

However, a large-scale expansion of the program could require tens of billions of yen in fiscal outlays, making stable funding the biggest challenge. Questions of fairness between current and newly hired teachers, and how to handle forgiven amounts when a teacher leaves before completing the required service period, will also need to be worked out in the detailed design process.

How much the loan forgiveness measure would actually alleviate the teacher shortage also remains to be seen. The Japanese government is pursuing a range of other measures in parallel, including adjusting recruitment exam schedules, improving pay and conditions, and reducing administrative burdens on schools. Ultimately, while financial support for tuition costs may help lower the barrier to entering the profession, creating an environment where teachers can stay and work long-term remains an equally critical challenge in addressing the shortage.


rainbow@heraldcorp.com