100 to 1? Appointment of 207 Female and 2 Male Health Teachers in Gyeongbuk Region... Assemblyman Son Hee-kwon Points Out Gender Imbalance

Gyeongbuk Provincial Council Member Son Hee-kwon.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Daeseon] As the number of female teachers increases in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Gyeongbuk region, the gender imbalance has become severe.

Kindergarten teachers, nutrition teachers, and health teachers have a female teacher appointment rate exceeding 90%, raising concerns that this may negatively affect students' growth.

Son Heegwon (People Power Party, Pohang), a member of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, reported on the 23rd that, based on an analysis of data submitted by the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, the current female teacher ratio by school level in Gyeongbuk is 64.9% in elementary schools, 77.9% in middle schools, and 61% in high schools.

Looking at the annual female teacher appointment rate in middle schools, where the gender imbalance is most severe, it has rapidly increased from 42.6% in 2018 to 61.1% in 2020 and 70.2% in 2022, indicating an urgent need for countermeasures.

However, due to the absence of gender ratio regulations during school personnel transfers, some areas among the 23 basic local governments in the Gyeongbuk region are experiencing serious gender imbalance. In Seongju and Chilgok middle schools, 85.5% and 82.6% of teachers are female, respectively.

In some special occupational fields, the proportion of newly appointed female teachers exceeds 90%, reaching a critical level of gender imbalance.

Examining the status of newly appointed teachers by occupation over the past five years, the majority were female in nutrition teachers (99.4%), health teachers (99%), kindergarten teachers (97.8%), and librarian teachers (88.3%).

In the past five years, 153 female nutrition teachers were appointed compared to only one male teacher; for health teachers, 207 females were appointed versus two males. Additionally, 271 female kindergarten teachers were appointed compared to just six males.

Other fields such as special education teachers (76.6%), librarian teachers (88.3%), and professional counseling teachers (86.6%) also showed overwhelmingly high female ratios.

Experts unanimously stated, “While female teachers have the advantage of providing more attentive care to students and there is no issue with women fulfilling the duties and roles of teachers, the high proportion of female education officials may cause difficulties in smooth curriculum operation and student guidance, and could lead to problems in students' gender identity formation and developmental growth.”

Son, a member of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, said, “Education officials are very important for nurturing talents responsible for Gyeongbuk’s future. Since the problems arising from the increasing female ratio among education officials are not trivial, measures must be established to resolve the gender imbalance among education officials.”

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