Teachers Leaving Amid 'Declining Authority'... Decrease in Appointment Competition Rates and Reduced Support for Education Universities

Recent Statistics Show Decline in 'Teacher Popularity'
Impact of Teacher Authority Crisis and Decreasing Student Numbers

As concerns over the decline in teachers' authority have recently come to the forefront, cases of teachers leaving the profession or giving up on preparing for teaching careers are increasing. Coupled with the decreasing number of students, this is also affecting the entrance exam situation, with teacher recruitment competition rates falling.

A teacher A in their 20s at an elementary school said on the 27th, "There have been incidents such as being reported for child abuse by parents, leading to discussions among teachers about whether they should quit teaching and prepare for other jobs," adding, "There are also teachers who plan to study other subjects after work."

In fact, the number of teachers who left the profession within one year of appointment in the past five years has exceeded 300. According to the status of mid-career resignations of teachers submitted by the Ministry of Education to Moon Jung-bok, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, 330 teachers resigned within one year of appointment from 2019 to August this year. Among them, elementary school teachers were the most at 161, followed by high school teachers at 88, and middle school teachers at 81.

In particular, the number of teachers resigning within one year of appointment has been steadily increasing. It decreased from 65 in 2019 to 56 in 2020 but rose again to 65 in 2021 and 72 in 2022. This year (as of the end of August), 72 teachers left the classroom.

On the 24th, students are making final checks before the 2022 National Joint Academic Assessment begins in a 3rd-year classroom at Yongsan High School in Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Moreover, with the recent sharp decline in the number of students, the teacher recruitment competition rate has also significantly dropped due to changes in the number of recruits. According to the "2024 Academic Year Public Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Special School Teacher Recruitment Candidate Selection Competition Exam Application Results" announced by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 12th, the average competition rate was 4.07 to 1. This is less than half of this year's selection competition rate of 8.67 to 1.

Furthermore, according to the "2024 Academic Year Secondary School Teachers, Special (Secondary) · Health · Nutrition · Librarian · Professional Counselor Teacher Recruitment Candidate Selection Competition Exam Application Results" announced on the 26th, the average competition rate for Seoul public middle and high school recruitment exams was 7.64 to 1. This also marks a decrease for two consecutive years from 8.53:1 in the 2023 academic year and 9.81:1 in 2022.

The number of early admission applicants to teachers' colleges and university elementary education departments also decreased this year. According to analysis data from Jongno Academy, among 10 teachers' colleges nationwide, including Seoul National University of Education, Chuncheon National University of Education, and Jinju National University of Education, five saw a decrease in early admission applicants compared to the previous year. Additionally, the competition rates for the elementary education departments at Korea National University of Education, Ewha Womans University, and Jeju National University?all of which operate elementary education departments?also declined compared to last year.

Professor Kim Sung-chun of the Graduate School of Educational Policy at Korea National University of Education said, "Teaching has long been known as a desirable profession, but recently, teachers' sense of efficacy seems to be declining significantly," pointing out, "The harder they work, the more difficult it becomes, and there is no reward even for hard work." He added, "A compensation system comparable to other professions, such as the recently increased homeroom teacher allowance, needs to be established, and teachers should be granted autonomy so that they can feel pride as professionals."