Japan’s education ministry plans to launch a system to further promote the hiring of athletes, including Olympians and Paralympians, as teachers without obtaining teaching qualifications.
The ministry currently allows prefectural education boards across the country to issue a special teaching license to experts in various fields, so that each prefecture can hire them as teachers. The ministry plans to promote the system so that Olympic, Paralympic and Deaflympic athletes can be certified as teachers more easily.
The ministry will work with sports organizations to create lists of athletes who are interested in teaching jobs, and present the lists to local education boards. It also plans to provide materials to train athletes to be teachers.
In case of hiring Olympic, Paralympic and Deaflympic athletes as teachers, schools will be given additional headcounts on top of the regular number of teachers.
The ministry will announce the plan as early as Friday.