More Than Half of Teachers Consider Changing Jobs or Resigning... Only 33% Satisfied with Teaching Profession

6 out of 10 Teachers Consider Changing Jobs or Resigning
"Excessive Complaints" and "Low Salary" Are Top Reasons
56.7% Experienced Infringement of Teachers' Rights; 23.3% Received Psychiatric Treatment

A recent survey found that only 3 out of 10 teachers are satisfied with their teaching careers. More than half of teachers reported considering changing jobs or resigning. The main reasons cited were low pay and excessive workload.

On May 14, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union released the results of a survey conducted from April 23 to May 7, targeting 8,254 teachers from kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools nationwide, in honor of Teachers' Day. Only 32.7% of teachers said they were satisfied with their teaching careers.

A survey revealed that only 3 out of 10 teachers are satisfied with their teaching careers. Photo unrelated to the article. Photo by Yonhap News

The average satisfaction score for teaching careers was just 2.9 out of 5. When asked whether the teaching profession is respected in society, 64.9% responded "No," which was significantly higher than the 8.9% who answered "Yes."

Additionally, more than half of teachers (58.0%) said they had considered changing jobs or resigning in the past year. The top reason for considering a job change or resignation (multiple responses allowed) was "infringement of teachers' rights and excessive complaints from parents" (77.5%). This was followed by "low salary" (57.6%) and "excessive workload" (27.2%).

In the past year, 56.7% of teachers experienced infringement of their professional rights, and 44% reported having been infringed upon by parents. As a result, 23.3% of teachers said they had received psychiatric counseling or treatment.

Although systems to protect teachers' rights, such as the passage of the "Five Laws for Teachers' Rights," have been established, teachers still hold negative views about overall education policies. A total of 96.9% of teachers said that "field opinions are not well reflected in overall education policies," and 95.8% responded that "there is not a high level of consistency among education policies."

In another survey conducted by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union from May 8 to 12, targeting 2,503 teachers from kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools nationwide, 66.8% of teachers responded negatively to the question, "Are you satisfied with your current working environment?"

Among teachers, 52.0% said they had been forced to obtain verbal approval for work-related matters, and half (50.0%) said they were required to provide detailed reasons even when taking legitimate leave.

Additionally, 67.0% of teachers pointed out that administrative work takes precedence over educational activities, and 47.8% claimed that teachers' rights to teach and assess students are not guaranteed. When asked if they would remain in the teaching profession until retirement, 61.5% of teachers responded negatively, citing economic reasons, anxiety over complaints and child abuse reports, excessive administrative work, and the decline of teachers' rights as reasons.

Lee Bomi, chairperson of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, stated, "These days, rather than feeling pride and fulfillment as teachers, many are considering leaving the profession due to poor educational conditions and rapidly changing teaching culture. There is an urgent need for policies to prevent teachers from leaving the field."

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