Poor pay, lack of respect spark teacher exodus from the classroom

Social Affairs

Published: 15 Jan. 2024, 19:31 Updated: 15 Jan. 2024, 19:53

Poor pay, lack of respect spark teacher exodus from the classroom

Seo2 Elementary School’s classroom is empty on Sep. 4 in 2023, 49 days after a 25-year-old first-time teacher at the school took her life in July. The day was dubbed “the day public education stopped,” where the majority of public school teachers called in sick or went on leave to show their resentment against continuing harassment from students’ parents. [NEWS1]

Many teachers are leaving the classroom to switch to nonteaching jobs, seeking better treatment.

Teachers enroll in cram schools to prepare for professional exams or the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) to pursue different careers.

“I get a large number of calls from current school teachers, asking whether they could prepare the CSAT or the National Pharmacy Board Exam,” a mathematics instructor at a Daechi-based cram school said.

Daechi, located in southern Seoul's Gangnam District, is a neighborhood known for its intense education fervor.

“Some teachers study new selective [science] subjects on the CSAT to attend medical school. Such efforts show their firm desire to quit teaching and get a new start,” he added.

He said a former teacher with seven years of classroom experience enrolled in his class last year.

Another school teacher, with four years of teaching experience in Gyeonggi, has been trying to go to law school since last year.

“I take two-hour-long classes on weekdays to prepare for the Legal Education Eligibility Test and study all day long on weekends,” he said.

“Teachers [who want to quit their teaching careers] form their own study groups to help each other,” an official from a teacher’s organization said.

“These gatherings are becoming common these days. Study group members pursue different career goals, including jobs like Oriental medicine and public appraisers.”

“The recent phenomenon is an exodus,” another education industry insider said.

Teaching used to be one of Korea's most coveted jobs. Teachers could continue their jobs even after giving birth and easily take leaves of absence. Only the highest-scoring applicants were admitted into teachers’ colleges.

However, those days are long gone.

Elementary school teachers by age group [KOREAN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, JOONGANG ILBO]

According to the Korean Educational Development Institute, only 43.2 percent of all elementary school teachers nationwide last year were in their 20s and 30s.

A decade ago, 53.9 percent of all elementary teachers were in their 20s and 30s.

Educational authorities have also recently reduced the number of newly recruited teachers.

Adding to this, a large number of teachers are leaving schools.

The Ministry of Education said 589 teachers quit teaching between March 2022 and April last year. The figure between 2021 and 2022 was only 303.

YouTube videos showing the stories of teachers who quit teaching are trending.

A video titled “The reason why a teacher who ranked 50th in the country called it quit after eight years of teaching” gained 54,000 views. Another video named “Reasons for abandoning the teaching profession despite all the hard work invested into it” surpassed 410,000 views.

Another video starring a 28-year-old former teacher who shared her story of giving up her teaching job had more than 96,000 views.

Private consulting firms helping teachers navigate new career paths are on the rise.

Some businesses advertise through online blogs, saying, “We provide specialized consulting services for teachers seeking alternative careers.”

A test-taker and aspiring teacher looks at the seat map attached to the board for the second round of the city’s elementary teacher employment examination at Seoul Technical High School in Seoul on Jan. 13, 2021. [NEWS1]

At the same time, an increasing number of aspiring teachers choose career paths other than becoming school teachers.

Teacher colleges nationwide are experiencing a growing number of student dropouts.

In 2023, 894 students took time off from the college last year. The figure in 2022 was 703.

A decade ago, only 439 students took a break from studying.

The number of expelled students and those who quit their studies exceeded 370 in 2022, while a decade ago, the figure was 156.

“Some friends in college are preparing for the CSAT again [to major in something different], or the public service exam,” a third-year student at Seoul National University of Education said.

Teachers hold placards at a protest in front of the National Assembly in western Seoul on Aug. 26, calling for a bill that protects teachers’ rights. [YONHAP]

The departure of young teachers can be attributed to poor reward systems and social factors.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), newly appointed public school teachers in Korea receive an annual salary of 33.4 million won ($25,473), 2.74 million won less than the OECD average.

Some criticize insufficient extra pay for additional responsibilities, such as to homeroom teachers or heads of specific departments.

The Education Ministry increased the monthly extra pay to homeroom teachers from 130,000 won to 200,000 won this year.

Homeroom teachers in public schools receive an additional 9,090 won a day, lower than Korea’s hourly minimum wage of 9,860 won.

“Teachers seem to be exhausted by staff shortages,” a principal in a Seoul-based elementary school said.

“Since the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers have been handling more administrative work. It has burdened young and even older teachers with decades of experience.”

“Restoring teachers' rights should start from making teaching a respectful job everyone admires,” said Kim Yong-seo, head of the Korean Federation of Teachers Unions.

“Extensive reform should precede so talented and competent people can become teachers. The reform will support the government’s effort to boost teachers’ professionalism.”

BY LEE HOO-YEON, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]