Kobe middle schools begin abolishing extracurricular activities, shift to community programs

The Kobekatsu program could end up being better for kids than the options they had before .

Extracurricular activities are a big deal at schools in Japan, widely considered an important way for adolescents to develop a sense of responsibility and diligence while forging friendships, developing healthy fitness habits, and deepening their appreciation for the arts.

In some schools all students are actually required to join one of the school’s clubs or sports teams, and even at ones without such a rule, kids who don’t participate in any extracurricular activities, facetiously called members of the “going straight home” club, are decidedly in the minority.

However, as of September 1, many middle schools in Kobe have no extracurricular activities at all .

Extracurricular activities haven’t been temporarily suspendered at those schools due to damaged athletic fields, instructor sicknesses, or other temporary conditions.

A total of 82 public middle schools have completely abolished their extracurricular programs, permanently disbanding their sports teams, marching bands, art clubs, and all other such groups . ▼ This could be a photo of one of the schools’ drama clubs.

The decision, recommended by the Kobe Board of Education, was prompted by two factors .

Japanese public school teachers often find themselves stretched thin trying to prepare and teach lessons for their classes while also handling duties as instructors/coaches for extracurricular activities.

With overwork being something that Japanese employers have become more sympathetic toward in recent years, if something has to give in a teacher’s schedule, it makes sense that the board would want them to prioritize their lessons.

Even if teachers have enough time to serve as advisors and coaches, though, with Japan’ s dwindlig birthrates, the clubs and teams don’t always have enough members .

Even before abolishing their extracurricular programs entirely, some of the schools had already had to indefinitely disband certain teams and clubs as the number of students joining them was too small to keep them viable.

The good news is that the closing down of the schools’ extracurricular programs is also opening up new opportunities for the affected students .

September 1 was also the start of a new program called Kobekatsu , katsu being a shortened form of bukatsu (“extracurricular activities”).

Under the Kobekatsu program, the Kobe board of education has partnered with 1,051 local community sports teams, clubs, workshops, and universities that offer programs in athletics, the arts, and technology .