EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM & PRACTICE IN JAPAN

2	“VIII Teacher's Qualifications/Training/Appointment”	Previous	Next	JAPANESE

	For teachers' certificates, there are normal certificates, special certificates and extraordinary certificates. Normal certificates include various types of specialized certificates (basic qualification: master's degree), 1st-type certificates (basic qualification: bachelor's degree), and 2nd-type certificates (basic qualification: associate's degree). Extraordinary certificates are valid for 3 years. The special certificate system is a system to provide special certificates to civilians who do not have teachers‘ certificates but who wish to teach and have superb knowledge, experience and technical skills in certain fields. It requires a special education personnel examination that is conducted by the prefectural boards of education that appoint such people as teachers. This system was introduced in 1988 with the revision of the law for licensing educational personnel. Extraordinary certificates are given to persons who pass the educational personnel examination only in situations when persons with teachers' certificates are not available to be appointed. Among the teachers’ certificates, normal certificates are awarded most often, which means most teachers have normal certificates. http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/miryoku/_icsFiles/afieldfile/2009/09/03/1283833.pdf