Narrowing Elementary School Teacher Recruitment... 450 Fewer Positions in 2 Years

Announcement of 3,455 recruits next year... 409 fewer than 2021 academic year
2023 recruitment scale is '3,000', reduced by 450 from 2022
National Education Council recommends reducing teacher training scale
Teacher organizations demand reflecting infectious disease and academic gap in teacher supply plan

As social distancing level 4 is applied, schools in Seoul have switched to remote classes. On the morning of the 14th, a teacher is conducting an online class in a 5th-grade classroom at Muhak Elementary School in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. 2021.07.14.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The hiring opportunities for elementary school teachers are gradually narrowing due to the declining school-age population. The recruitment scale for next year is forecasted to be in the 3,400 range, but it will decrease to the 3,000 range the year after.

The Ministry of Education's preliminary announcement of the nationwide new elementary teacher recruitment for the 2022 academic year totaled 3,455 people. Compared to the recruitment announcement in September last year, this is a decrease of 409. The final recruitment scale will be confirmed next month.

In particular, Seoul saw a reduction of 91 people, down to 213 from the previous year. Other regions such as Jeonnam (308→190), Ulsan (157→80), Daegu (90→50), Daejeon (20→10), and Gwangju (11→6) were reduced to about half their previous numbers.

Among the 17 metropolitan and provincial education offices, only three increased their recruitment numbers compared to last year: Gyeonggi (1219→1365), Incheon (176→180), and Chungbuk (75→86). In the metropolitan area, excluding Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon saw an increase in recruitment numbers, which led to an overall increase in the metropolitan area's recruitment scale.

Status of Preliminary Announcement of Public Elementary School Teacher Recruitment Quotas by Province (Data=Ministry of Education)

The Ministry of Education stated, "The final announcement for this year's recruitment exam will be confirmed in September, and it is expected to select within the range of 3,380 to 3,580 people, as per the teacher supply and demand plan announced on July 23 last year."

The reduction scale of elementary school teachers in Seoul has decreased by 75% compared to five years ago. Since the number of elementary teacher recruits in 2018 sharply dropped to less than half, the downward trend has continued. The recent five-year recruitment scale for elementary teachers in Seoul is as follows: ▲2017: 846 ▲2018: 385 ▲2019: 370 ▲2020: 370 ▲2021: 304.

The mid- to long-term teacher supply and demand plan (2019?2030) announced by the Ministry of Education in 2018 aimed to stabilize the annual elementary teacher scale from 4,040 in 2019 to about 3,500 in 2030, reflecting the decline in the school-age population. It was projected that the number of elementary students would decrease by 410,000 (15%) to 2.26 million by 2030. However, the special future population projection by Statistics Korea released the following year revised the 2030 elementary student number from the initially expected 2.26 million to 1.72 million, a reduction of over 500,000, leading to a readjustment of the new teacher recruitment scale.

The scale of new elementary teacher recruitment next year is expected to shrink further compared to this year. The Ministry of Education announced last year that the recruitment scale for new public elementary school teachers would be ▲2022: 3,380?3,580 ▲2023?2024: around 3,000. The recruitment scale after 2023 may be adjusted depending on population projections released by Statistics Korea this year. The Ministry of Education plans to establish a mid-term (2023?2027) teacher supply and demand plan within next year.

The National Education Council also issued a policy recommendation at the end of last year to reduce the scale of teacher training. As measures to manage the scale of elementary teacher training, they suggested regional integration of teacher training colleges and integration between teacher training colleges and flagship national universities. The training scale of teacher training colleges has remained similar, from 3,848 in 2012 to 3,847 last year. As the recruitment scale decreases, the need to adjust the quotas of teacher training colleges has increased.

Teacher organizations and prospective teachers pointed out the need for a mid- to long-term supply and demand plan to address educational disparities considering the COVID-19 situation.

The Seoul branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) said, "Securing an appropriate number of teachers is essential to successfully overcome the educational aftereffects caused by COVID-19. Due to excessive students per class, there were many limitations in properly supporting remote classes and emergency care. Even if funds are invested in supporting remote classes, purchasing devices, and facility support, reducing the number of teachers who must protect and teach students will ultimately threaten the safety of the students."

The National Federation of Education University Students stated, "We must solve the issues of the 20-student per class cap and overcrowded classes to eliminate educational inequality, but the Ministry of Education is trying to resolve overcrowded classes through temporary hiring. Due to the gap between teacher training college admission quotas and teacher supply and demand, prospective teachers have no choice but to compete fiercely for recruitment. The government must announce a mid- to long-term teacher supply and demand plan to strengthen educational publicness."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.