100 Teachers Committed Suicide Over 6 Years... "57 Were Elementary School Teachers"

It has been revealed that 100 public elementary, middle, and high school teachers have taken their own lives over the past six years. More than half of the deceased teachers (57) were elementary school teachers.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to data collected by the office of Jeong Gyeong-hee, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the People Power Party, from 17 city and provincial education offices nationwide, 100 public elementary, middle, and high school teachers died by suicide between January 1, 2018, and June 30 of this year.

By region, Gyeonggi had the highest number with 22 cases. This was followed by Seoul (13), Busan (9), Gyeongbuk (8), and Chungnam (7).

The number of suicides increased consecutively for four years: 14 cases in 2018, 16 in 2019, 18 in 2020, and 22 in 2021, before slightly decreasing to 19 cases in 2022. There were 11 cases in the first half of this year.

By school level, over the past six years, elementary school teachers accounted for the highest number of suicides at 57, followed by high school teachers with 28, and middle school teachers with 15.

According to the 2022 Basic Education Statistics, considering that elementary school teachers made up 44.1% (195,037) of the total 441,796 elementary, middle, and high school teachers in 2022, the suicide rate among elementary school teachers was found to be higher.

The leading cause of suicide was "unknown" (70 cases), followed by "depression and panic disorder" (16), "family conflict" (4), "despair over personal circumstances and illness" (3 each), "military service obligations" (2), and "marriage preparation and investment failure" (1 each), among others.

On the 18th of this month, a second-year new teacher was found dead by suicide at Seo-i Elementary School in Seocho-gu, Seoul, prompting investigations by both the police and education authorities, while calls for measures to protect teachers' rights are growing louder.

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