This Sept. 6, 2021, file photo shows a teacher teaching a class with partial attendance at an elementary school in northern Seoul. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean teachers are less satisfied with their jobs with the rate of those who said they would become teachers if they were born again falling sharply, a survey showed Wednesday.
According to a survey conducted by the Korean Federation of Teachers Associations of 8,431 teachers at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the country, the rate of those who said they would opt to become teachers if they were born again stood at 29.9 percent.
It was the first time the rate slipped to below 30 percent since the survey began.
The share of those who said they were satisfied with their jobs stood at a mere 33.5 percent.
After standing at 52.4 percent in 2019, the rate of positive response to the question has remained around the 30 percent level for three straight years since the COVID-19 pandemic, falling to 32.1 percent in 2020 and 35.7 percent in 2021.
Teachers picked guidance on maladjusted and trouble-making students as the biggest headache (24.6 percent), followed by parent complaints and relationships with them (22.1 percent) and excessive work that is not related to teaching (18.8 percent).
In response to a question asking if the morale of teachers had weakened over the past couple of years, 78.7 percent of the respondents responded affirmatively.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
