An increase in the number of working mothers is prompting changes in the way parent-teacher associations operate.
"Nobody spoke in the meeting; it was almost like a wake," said one mother, whose child attends an elementary school in the Tokyo metropolitan area, referring to a recent board meeting of PTA executive members selected in a lottery.
At the school, full-time working mothers told her it is impossible for them to serve as an executive member even if forced to serve by lottery, because of the requirement to attend three to four times a month during weekdays, said the mother, a full-time housewife who also has a toddler. She, too, admits finding it a burden to attend the meetings.