LEIFRAS Co., Ltd. and Shime Town Launch Full-Scale Initiative to Balance Teacher Work-Style Reform and Club Activity Engagement

Following a pilot program, the new initiative aims to expand in scale, enabling teachers to choose whether to teach through side jobs.TOKYO, March 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LEIFRAS Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:LFS) (the "Company" or "Leifras"), a sports and social business company dedicated to youth sports and community engagement, today announced that it has entered into a contract (the "Contract") with Shime Town, Kasuya District, Fukuoka Prefecture ("Shime Town") to support the transition of junior high school club activities to local communities in Shime Town and to provide sports instruction and related management services.Leifras has been engaging in a one-year pilot program in Shime Town from April 2025 (the "Pilot Program"). Through the new initiative under the Contract (the "Initiative"), Leifras expects to advance nationwide reforms to improve teachers' working conditions while establishing a system for compensated "side jobs" that allows teachers who wish to provide guidance for club activities to receive fair compensation, thereby creating a new model for regional club activities.Contract OverviewClient: Shime Town, Kasuya District, Fukuoka PrefectureContract Period: February 2, 2026 to March 31, 2027 (Leifras' instruction services are scheduled to commence from April 2026)Background: Nationwide Transition Pursuing Better Club Activities for Both Children and TeachersJapan's transition of extracurricular club activities to local communities aims to ensure that children continue to have opportunities to engage in diverse sports and cultural activities even amid declining birthrates. At the same time, the transition seeks to enhance the quality of school club activities through specialized instruction by experienced professionals. Additionally, the transition also helps reduce the burden on teachers, who have long faced challenges such as long working hours due to supervision duties on holidays, thereby promoting reforms in teachers' working practices.The core of the transition lies in building a sustainable club activity framework while maintaining the educational roles that club activities have traditionally fulfilled in Japan: fostering social skills and character development. However, many teachers have expressed sentiments for teaching club activities. Additionally, numerous students have expressed anxiety about the future, asking whether teachers will still be able to participate in club activities.The shift to community-based club activities is an educational reform that aims to provide children with the optimal environment for club activities while also increasing the options available to teachers regarding club activity instruction. Under the Contract with Shime Town, Leifras' instructors are expected to take the lead in guiding club activities on holidays, creating an environment where children can receive specialized instruction. ...Full story available on Benzinga.com