A retired elementary scool teacher, an old friend (she taught my daughter) visited this morning. In the years leading up to her retirement, she detailed to me the immense difficulties of her job and was counting days - seconds - until retirement.
A Kumanichi article indicated that the number of successful applicants for elementary school positions has hit an historic low, due both to the difficulty of the test and fewer applicants: 312 took the exam and and 168 passed, a 50% drop from 1994.
Many readers on this site work in public education. Your insights would be appreciated. - William