I heard that my teaching hours will be reduced a lot next year, so I am looking for another job.
But the timetable is not decided yet, so I do not know how many hours I can work.
Because of this, it is hard to look for a new job.
I worry about many things.
For example, what if I have only the 2nd and 7th periods on one day?
Or what if I must teach four different subjects and need a lot of time to prepare?
Then I will not have time for another job.

Working as a part-time teacher is good for me because I also need to do housework and take care of my child.
But every year at the end of March, I feel worried about how I will work next year.

I decided to register for a temporary agency job to have one more job.
Soon the staff called me and said, “If you work 20 hours a week, you can join social insurance. So it is better to work four days a week.”
I was surprised.
They also said that if I choose not to join social insurance, I need to show proof that my household income is over 5 million yen.

Maybe this is normal in society.
But for me, who has worked only as a part-time teacher for many years, it was a big surprise.

Part-time teachers at schools cannot join social insurance, no matter how much they work.
Maybe it is possible, but there is a system that makes it very difficult.

Part-time teachers’ working hours are counted only by the number of classes.
If I teach 8 classes a week, it means I work 8 hours a week.
Because of this, I have never had more than 19 classes a week.

In reality, I work more than 20 hours a week because I prepare for classes, wait between classes, talk with students, check homework, make tests, grade tests, and join meetings.
But the system still treats me as a “short-time worker.”
It feels like a system that uses a loophole.

On the other hand, temporary agency jobs try to help workers join social insurance.
When I learned this difference, I felt how far school workers are placed outside the system.

I like my part-time job, and my current school fits me well.
But I always feel worried because:

• I cannot join social insurance
• My teaching hours change every year, so my income is not stable
• I always have extra work outside class time

There are other things I wonder about.
For example, part-time teachers are the same in every prefecture, but some prefectures pay for extra work like making tests.
My current school does not pay for any extra work.
The amount of extra work also depends on the full-time teacher I work with.

Some areas have even worse conditions than my prefecture.
It is strange that the same job, “teacher,” has such big differences depending on the local government.

Society is slowly making better systems for non-regular workers, but schools still follow old working styles.
People say there is a serious teacher shortage, but the working conditions for part-time teachers do not improve.
They even became worse because of the five-year rule.

At the end of each year, I wonder if I should rethink working as a part-time teacher.
But I also think my life balance is possible only because I work part-time.

Social security should protect all workers.
No matter how people work, everyone should be able to join the system.
People have different lifestyles, so different working styles should be supported.
Even if someone works short hours, they still support society.

Schools help children move from home to society, but the people who work there often feel cut off from society.