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| A teacher leads students during a class at Changwon Elementary School in Dobong District, Seoul, Nov.21, 2022. Joint Press Corps |
By Lee Hyo-jin
In Korea, being a public school teacher was once widely considered a rewarding career. Some advantages of working as a teacher include stable income guaranteed until retirement and generous vacation days compared with ordinary office workers.
But despite these benefits, it seems that teaching is becoming a less desirable career in the eyes of students considering their future jobs. The competition ratio to enter a university of education, which has been on the decline for several years, has this year reached its lowest figure in five years.
This year, the average competition rate of 13 state-run universities of education and departments of elementary education stood at 2:1, hitting the lowest in the last five years, according to Jongro Academy, a major private tutoring franchise. Competition ratios compare the number of applicants with the total number of available positions.
The competition ratio of six state-run universities of education including those based in Seoul Gyeonggi-Incheon, Daegu, Busan, Jinju and Gongju was lower than 2:1, with the lowest figure standing at 1.4:1.
Moreover, an increasing number of students who were accepted into education majors are choosing to leave in search of other career paths.
Data from the Ministry of Education showed that in 2021, a total of 232 students who were accepted for state-run universities of education either quit or gave up their positions. This accounted for six percent of the total number of students enrolled in education courses. In the case of Gongju and Seoul education universities, one out of 10 freshmen dropped out.
There are multiple reasons why teaching is becoming a less appealing occupation. The country's ever-falling birth rate, which will eventually lead to a drastic decline in the student population within a few years, is one of them.
In 2022, the nation's fertility rate came to 0.79, marking the fourth consecutive year below one.
In fact, the student population is already shrinking. According to data from the Ministry of Education, the number of elementary, middle and high school students nationwide stood at 5.27 million in 2022, down from 5.72 million in 2017. Some schools ― even in densely populated Seoul metropolitan areas ― are closing down due to a shortage of new students.
In addition, harsher working conditions are another factor discouraging potential teachers from the profession. Unlike the past when teachers were highly respected among students and parents, a growing number of teachers have been subject to physical or verbal abuse from students.
Since corporal punishment by teachers was banned in a revised education law in 2011, teachers have complained about rising cases of insults and abuse by delinquent students. According to a 2022 survey by Korean Federation of Teachers' Association among 8,431 school teachers, 55.8 percent said they experience hardships handling misbehaving students who cause disruptions in the classroom.
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