Korea does not respect teachers, 60% of them say in a survey
Only one-third of teachers satifisfied with their jobs; over half thought about quitting within a year
One-third of the teachers in Korea are satisfied with their jobs while over half of them think their profession is not respected by South Korean society, a survey conducted by the federation of teachers' associations nationwide showed Wednesday.
The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations conducted the survey on 8,254 teachers -- from kindergarten to university-level educators -- across the country in commemoration of the annual Teachers' Day on Thursday, which showed 32.7 percent of the respondents were satisfied with being a teacher while another 32.3 percent said they are discontent. The rest said they were neither satisfied or dissatisfied with being a teacher.
When asked if Korean society respects teachers, 64.9 percent said it does not while only 8.9 percent said it does.
The respondents were asked to give a score on how much they are satisfied with being a teacher, to which they gave an average score of 2.9 out of 5.
Due to generally low job satisfaction as a teacher, 58 percent of the respondents said they considered quitting or getting another job in the past year. "Excessive petition and infringement of teachers' rights" was picked by 77.5 percent of the respondents, followed by low wage (57.6 percent)" and "excessive workload (27.2 percent)."
Concerns over teachers' rights violations
Some 56.7 percent of the respondents said their students had violated their rights, while 56 percent said parents of students did it. It was found that 23.3 percent of the respondents received therapy or psychiatric treatment, due to their rights being violated.
There have been rising concern over teachers' rights being violated by students and teachers, particularly in the wake of the 2023 suicide death of an elementary school teacher in Seoul. It was thought that the victim suffered from what was alleged to be harassment by some of the parents, although no criminal charges were pressed in relation to this claim.
The KFTA conducted the same survey in October 2023, three months after the incident, which showed that 68.4 percent of the respondents were not satisfied with their jobs while only 13.2 percent were. It also showed that 87 percent of the respondents considered quitting or getting a new job within the past year.
While not as significant as two years ago, studies indicate substantial infringement of teachers' rights persist. Another KFTA survey conducted earlier this month showed that 67.7 percent of the teachers had students curse at them, while another 22.9 percent said they were actually assaulted by the students.
Last month, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education launched an investigation into a claim that a high school senior assaulted a teacher on the face, after the teachers told him not to use his phone in class. It was reported on Tuesday that the student is to be transferred to another school and subject to mandated therapy, while the victim and other teachers in the school will also receive therapy treatment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
Yoon, wife to face special counsel probes
577 prosecutors, investigators allotted to look into ex-first couple President Lee Jae-myung's Cabinet on Tuesday passed bills to open three special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee. The bills are intended to "end the insurrection" that the Lee administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea accuse Yoon of instigating with his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3, 2024. At the second Cabinet meeting since Lee took office last week, the Democratic Party-led bills passed into law to bring together 577 prosecutors and investigators in total to investigate the former first couple. The combined size of the legal teams involved in the investigations is comparable to a district attorney's office. With Tuesday's passage, a special counsel investigation will look into if Yoon committed either insurrection or treason by trying to impose martial law. Yoon declared martial law late in the evening of Dec. 3, only to lift it six hours later following a National Assembly resolution that opposed it. The Democratic Party contends that Yoon attempted to provoke military action from North Korea with his hawkish policies to lay the groundwork for the declaration of martial law. Yoon's Ministry of National Defense playing anti-Kim Jong-un regime broadcasts along the inter-Korean borders from June 2024 was one example of the former administration deliberately seeking military confrontation with North Korea, according to the Democratic Party. Before their resumption last year, the border broadcasts had been used by the South Korean military as a psychological warfare tactic in the past, before they were halted in 2018 under then-President Moon Jae-in. The Democratic Party also claims that Yoon sent drones across the border into North Korea in October 2024, echoing Pyongyang's accusations that the South Korean military was behind the alleged drone infiltration. Yoon allegedly attempting to instigate an armed conflict with North Korea in the run-up to his martial law decree qualifies as "treason," the Democratic Party claimed, on top of being a "rebellion against the Constitution, which is to say, insurrection." Yoon's wife Kim is set to face a separate special counsel investigation that will scrutinize allegations she was involved in the then-ruling People Power Party's nomination of candidates for a National Assembly seat in the 2022 by-election. Another special counsel investigation would revisit the death of a Marine in July 2023. Cpl. Chae Su-geun, 20, died when he was swept away in moving water during a search and rescue operation to locate flood victims in a rain-swollen river in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province. The Democratic Party says Yoon's presidential office tried to impede the preliminary probe into Chae's death at the time to cover up possible wrongdoing at the top. Special counsels will be given as long as 170 days to investigate Yoon and his wife. Yoon was removed from office on April 4 in a unanimous ruling by the Constitutional Court over the martial law debacle, leading South Korea to hold an early presidential election on June 3.
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
Soldier leaves gun inside rental car; found by civilian days later
The South Korean military said Tuesday it is investigating a case in which a newly enlisted soldier left his gun inside a civilian rental car earlier this month. The soldier, dispatched to a unit in the southeastern region, was being escorted by a non-commissioned officer via the rented car Thursday. He exited the car without taking the K2 rifle, a standard-issue weapon for the military. Neither the soldier nor the accompanying officer realized the weapon had been left behind. The gun was discovered three days later by another renter, who reported to police that a rifle was inside the rental car. The soldier's army unit has since recovered the gun from the rental car business. The military unit had reportedly failed to acknowledge the absence of the weapon until it was brought to police attention, and the incident sparked criticism over possible careless gun management on the military's part. "Not being able to realize that a gun is missing for three days is a matter of military discipline," said Rep. Choo Mi-ae of the parliamentary National Defense Committee on the case. Crimes committed by those in the military are subject to the Military Criminal Act. Under Article 74 of the act, a person responsible for losing military supplies, including firearms, ammunition and explosives, can be punished by a maximum of 5 years in prison or a fine of 3 million won ($2,200).
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Korea Herald
Sexual harassment in Korean workplaces still underreported
7 in 10 victims do not report incidents, citing fear, mistrust or discomfort Despite growing awareness around workplace harassment, a majority of South Korean employees still choose to remain silent after experiencing sexual harassment at work, according to a government survey released Monday. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family found that 75.2 percent of employees who experienced sexual harassment did not report it, marking an 8.5 percentage-point increase from the last survey in 2021. Among those who did report, nearly a quarter said no appropriate action was taken. The triennial survey, which polled over 19,000 employees from public institutions and private companies, revealed that 4.3 percent of workers experienced some form of sexual harassment over the past three years, slightly down from 4.8 percent in 2021. However, public institutions saw a rise in reported cases, from 7.4 percent to 11.1 percent, likely due to the return to in-person work after the pandemic. The most common types of harassment included sexual comments about physical appearance, lewd jokes or explicit talk, and being pressured to sit next to someone or pour drinks at work gatherings. While offices and workplace dinners remained the most common settings for harassment, the proportion of cases occurring online through group chats and social media rose to 7.8 percent, a 3.1 percentage-point increase. Half of the alleged perpetrators were supervisors or senior employees, and 80.4 percent were male. Among victims who chose not to report the incidents, reasons included believing the situation was not serious (52.7 percent), fear of awkwardness with the perpetrator (33.3 percent), and lack of trust in the organization to respond properly (27.4 percent). For those who did report the incidents, only 27.4 percent received counseling or were guided through procedures, while 17.5 percent saw a formal investigation initiated, and 16.2 percent reported separation or work reassignment of the offender. Secondary victimization, such as malicious rumors, was experienced by 12.3 percent of victims, down from 2021, but still a concern. Alarmingly, over 40 percent of bystanders took no action after witnessing harassment or retaliation. Despite the challenges, the survey also found improvements in workplace systems. About 80.8 percent of respondents said their workplace has sexual harassment prevention guidelines, up 12.1 percentage points. The proportion of employees who trust their company to handle cases fairly rose to 88.7 percent, a 15.5 percentage-point increase. Still, those responsible for managing harassment reports cited work overload and lack of expertise as major challenges, as many juggle multiple roles without dedicated training or resources. Jong Yong-soo, head of the women's rights promotion department at the ministry, said the government 'will actively support building workplace cultures where harassment prevention and response systems function effectively.'
