Cleaning at school

One of the weirdest things that I have encountered so far in Japanese schools is ‘Cleaning Time.’ Sometimes this time is in the morning, after registration (or home-room as they call it here!), sometimes it is just after lunch, and sometimes it is after last period, just before the students go home. But whatever time of day, it’s the same thing….THE STUDENTS CLEAN THE SCHOOL!!! What the heck!! There is a designated time each school day, where every student in the school goes to their allocated area, and cleans! They sweep, hoover, dust, empty the bins, and generally tidy for about 15 minutes of every day. The schools don’t hire cleaners to do this job at all….the students just do it!! Almost like some sort of Japanese student cleaning sweat-shop…Cleaning time is actually in their school timetable!!! Now, I have mixed feelings about this idea. On the one hand, I think it’s great that the students have the responsibility of looking after their school, and maintaining their own little areas. I think it’s good that there is an emphasis put on students and teachers caring about their school, and taking responsibility for its appearance etc. However, the fact of the matter is, that normally the students do a pretty poor job of cleaning the school! Yeah, they look like they’re sweeping, and they look like they’re cleaning the toilets…but are they really? Well, no…not properly anyway! The result is that most of the schools I have seen are always a bit grimy and dusty…and the toilets are definitely not cleaned in a way that a proper cleaner would respect! I know some JETs who actually volunteer to help in cleaning time…maybe in some misguided attempt to bond with staff and students And as far as I can see this only really works with the younger energetic kids, not the sullen older teenagers that I teach. As for me, I am keeping a purely spectator role…cleaning is not in my job description as an ALT. If I’m going to bond with my students, I will do it in class, not in a corridor with a broom!