Kayoko Hama: Appointed as the First Female Superintendent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Curriculum Advisory Committee

There are about one million children studying in public schools in Tokyo. Education in Tokyo covers a very wide range and carries heavy responsibility. While feeling the weight of that responsibility amidst the significantly changing environment surrounding children's education, looking back, it has been a challenging but enjoyable year.

Seeing the enthusiasm and sense of responsibility of the teachers on the front lines up close is truly incredible. As the person in charge, I want to fulfill my role to ensure that this enthusiasm and sense of responsibility are properly conveyed to the citizens of Tokyo, and that the Metropolitan Curriculum Advisory Committee moves in the direction it should go.

I had the impression that the education industry might value tradition too much, but that is not the case at all; there are many people who are eager to take on new things. Since I have never worked in educational administration before, when I ask without any preconceptions, "Why don't we do it this way?", they accept it flexibly, saying, "That's one way of thinking."

There is an atmosphere within the organization of doing new things while having discussions, like "Why don't we try it this way?" It's fun to feel every day that various things are changing little by little. I don't feel like I'm working hard alone; everyone is trying to change, so I feel it's very rewarding.

To begin with, I believe there is almost no work that can be done by one person alone. I tell young people to always be conscious of the fact that work is not something you do by yourself. Looking back, even the jobs I think "went well" were not done by me alone, but were possible because of the bosses who supported me and the people who cooperated with me.

Now, even if I create the initial spark, it is the staff in charge, the section chiefs, and the directors who handle the fine details. Working in an organization is interesting because you work in teams like that, and conversely, I think big jobs cannot be done unless you are in a team. I think that is the fun and the real thrill of working within an organization.

Yes. Around my third year at the workplace, I made a mistake so big I couldn't handle it myself. When I was at a loss, my boss and seniors helped me recover. At that time, I was told, "Work is done by an organization, so even if someone fails, the organization as a whole produces the proper result in the end. You were helped this time, but someday you will be on the side that helps others. This is what it means to work in an organization," and I was convinced.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government originally had many women who served for a long time, and many became managers, but of course, there were also many who did not. The people in my workplace at that time entrusted me with a wide range of work and let me do various things for the future. It was one of the workplaces that I think became a turning point.

The reason I joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in the first place was that, in an era where the trend in private companies was that you had to work twice as hard as a man to get the same salary, I thought that if I looked for a place where I could get the same salary for doing the same amount of work, it would be as a civil servant.

At the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, there is a fair promotion exam, and if you pass it, you can be promoted to a certain level regardless of gender. When I joined, there were already women at the Officer level. But back then, the posts women were promoted to were fixed, and a period of limited female utilization continued for a long time. Around the time I passed the management exam, the number of female successful candidates increased and there weren't enough posts, so they started trying things like placing women in this or that department as well.

Now, the generation slightly after mine is increasing in number at the director level, just one step away from rising to the Officer level, so from now on, I think it will become a feeling of "happens to be a woman" or "happens to be a man."

It was a bit of a topic last year, but we finally have a prospect of eliminating gender-based enrollment quotas, which had remained only in Tokyo metropolitan high schools nationwide. Progress is also being made in not using gender-segregated rosters.

Also, as you know, there are many female school teachers, but few are in management positions. In particular, the number of female principals decreases as you go up from elementary to junior high and high school. I believe it is necessary to systematically nurture and appoint them.

I didn't have much (laughs). But when I was at the director level, I worked in child welfare. It was right around the time of the "I failed to get into nursery school, Japan can die!" controversy, and childcare administration was difficult, but I was also in charge of responding to child abuse. When thinking about how quickly we can find and reach out to children who have difficulties at home, I thought the catalyst would be the school.

If those children are connected to school, we can notice changes or they can find a place to belong, so the role of public schools is significant.

Now that I am doing educational administration as the Superintendent, I want school teachers, families, and children to feel that "it's safe as long as you are connected to school."

I also went to public school until junior high, and I don't think it has changed significantly. Among them, there are children from homes where the only proper meal they can eat is school lunch, and there are families who find it difficult to write the documents to be submitted to the administration to receive the assistance necessary for learning.

The ones who can notice this are, after all, the homeroom teachers and school nurses who see the children every day. I think schools are the first ones who can find children who are called "young carers."

However, if we think that school teachers must handle everything alone, they will burn out and it won't be solved. How to connect from there to agencies such as welfare. I think it is important to create such a system. We are thinking about this at the Curriculum Advisory Committee, and on the welfare side, we are talking about working together.

This has become the most important issue for the Curriculum Advisory Committee. The competition ratio for teacher recruitment exams is falling steadily. Now, work-style reform for teachers cannot wait, and we are also reviewing the recruitment exams. I don't think there is only one reason why the number of applicants is decreasing, but first, the time constraints are severe. Also, it is possible that there is anxiety that the school is a closed space, making it difficult to consult with those around them, or that they have to handle parents and children all by themselves.

In any case, we are securing a budget to deploy external personnel to reduce the work that teachers have to do as much as possible. For example, we are deploying personnel to help with the administrative work of vice-principals and staff to help with lesson preparation. Or, we are deploying school counselors to consult with children. In this way, not just teachers but various people are involved in the school to share the work.

Club activities are also a considerable burden on teachers. We have just started an initiative to secure external instructors so that, basically, teachers do not have to do club activities on Saturdays and Sundays.

That's right. Otherwise, teachers alone will not have enough manpower, and I think it is a good thing for children to grow up by interacting with various adults.

Yes. When I started job hunting, at that time, ordinary major companies wouldn't even give interviews to women. So, that was the first time I thought, "Oh, I'm a woman" (laughs). If you're from Keio Girls Senior High School, you don't really think about that, do you?

I thought, I have to live in this world from now on, this is a problem. At that time, among the jobs I looked for where I would be evaluated the same way if I did the same amount of work, the one I found was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

That's difficult (laughs). But looking at my own daughter, I think it's better not to think too hard about the future. Recently, schools are putting effort into career education, saying it's necessary to think about what kind of profession you want to have and how you want to live in the future, and to make an effort toward that. But I think doing that too much might actually be bad.

I think the image of the future you can draw while you're young doesn't see the world very broadly. Even I didn't think I could work so enjoyably or be promoted this much when I joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. But when I tried it, it was fun, and I'm really glad I could come this far.

I think there are many people who don't have a goal and don't know which direction to move in, but I think you don't have to rush. If you can't find a goal, do your best at what you can do now. I think that by accumulating those efforts, you might find something where you think, "I was suited for this." I don't think it's a bad thing at all not to know what you should work hard at.

I'm just haphazard (laughs).

I think that's the free and good part of Keio. It means that if you're a Keio student, you'll eventually find your own path.

Most adults don't have a clear sense of which profession they will enter when they enter university; they find their path during job hunting, get a job, work hard there, and live relatively happily. I think that's not bad at all.

If people call me easygoing, then I am, but no matter what post I'm in, I've ended up thinking, "This is an interesting job, so I don't want to transfer." When I became the Director General of the Bureau of Waterworks, I went there thinking, "Can I do this?" and then thought, "What an interesting job!" I think if you try your best at any job, you can enjoy it, and results will follow later.

I am quite curious. For example, the work of the Bureau of Waterworks is basically the work of technicians. So, there are many things I don't understand, like construction, but when I ask, "Why is it like that?", the technicians are happy to teach me. Then I become more knowledgeable, human relationships improve, and it becomes easier to exchange information, like "Actually, there's this problem."

Even in fields I had no connection with, if someone teaches me, I get interested in anything, and if I get interested, I start to understand a little bit where the difficulties and challenges are.

It's true for myself, but even looking at young people in the workplace, results don't come when you're trying too hard to produce them. The more you think you want to finish this job well and be evaluated, praised, or recognized, the more often you don't get good results. Instead, I feel that better results come when you're just thinking about doing the best you can.

I'm glad I went to Keio Girls Senior High School because I think my current free-spirited way of thinking exists because of those three years.

The whole of Keio is like that, isn't it? We don't call teachers "Sensei," we call everyone "-san." Especially at the girls' high school, we talk freely without even thinking of teachers as teachers (laughs). If we have something to say, we say it; when we don't understand, we say "I don't understand"; and when we don't like something, we say "I don't like it." I think that free-spirited feeling probably wasn't in me until junior high school.

Since I started working, I've been told several times, "You can really say things to your superiors without hesitation." Even if everyone is afraid of a certain boss and doesn't approach them, I just go right up and talk to them. I talk to them freely, say "that's wrong" when it is, or say "I can't do it" when I can't (laughs).

It's not that I argue blindly, but if you have a proper conversation, you can reach a single answer even if your positions are different. I think that sense of security was acquired during my time at the girls' high school.

I was told that everyone's comments, including the younger staff, increased during meetings in the Officer's room, and that made me happy. I also ask "Why?" and tell everyone, "It's okay to voice your doubts."