Politics · Japan · 5 hrs ago
Saitama Cities Seek Community Coaches for School Clubs on Weekdays
Municipalities in Saitama Prefecture are involving local residents in middle-school clubs as they look for ways to run activities amid a declining population of children.
The aim includes reducing the workload on teachers.
Sayama and Shiraoka have outsourced almost all Saturday and Sunday club activities.
Weekday sessions remain a difficult gap to fill because they also need people to run them.
At one Sayama school in late October, 10 soft-tennis players from two schools practised under three volunteer coaches, aged from their 30s to their 70s, with no teacher present.
The next challenge is securing weekday operators as communities explore how school clubs can continue.
Municipalities in Saitama Prefecture are looking for ways to secure community operators for middle-school clubs on weekdays.
Sayama and Shiraoka have outsourced almost all weekend club activities.
The effort aims to ease teachers’ workloads as communities consider how school clubs should operate amid a declining child population.
In late October, three community coaches led a practice for 10 students from two middle schools in Sayama.
- Who
- Municipalities in Saitama Prefecture, including Sayama and Shiraoka, are exploring community involvement in school clubs.
- What
- They are seeking ways to secure operators for weekday middle-school club activities.
- When
- The article was published on November 15, 2026. A practice described in the article took place in late October.
- Where
- Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
- Why
- The effort aims to ease teachers’ workloads and address how school clubs can operate as the child population declines.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Sayama and Shiraoka outsourced almost all Saturday and Sunday club activities.
Three coaches led a soft-tennis practice for 10 students from two middle schools in Sayama.
- Municipalities
- Sayama and Shiraoka
- Weekend activities
- Almost all outsourced
- Practice location
- Sayama
- Students at practice
- 10 from two middle schools
- Coaches at practice
- 3, aged from their 30s to their 70s