Rise in teacher suicides highlights need for education reform

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sat, December 9, 2023 | 07:23

Society

Rise in teacher suicides highlights need for education reform

Posted : 2023-07-30 17:02

Updated : 2023-07-31 16:07

White floral wreaths are placed, Thursday, in memory of the 23-year-old teacher who recently took her own life in her classroom in Seoul Seo2 Elementary School in Seocho District, southern Seoul. Newsis

Over 30,000 teachers hold rally for enhanced rights and legal overhaul

By Lee Hae-rin

Amid condolences and calls for education reforms triggered by the recent death of an elementary school teacher, government-released statistics showed, Sunday, that a hundred teachers in the country have also taken their own lives in the last six years, highlighting a crisis in the education sector.

According to the report requested and acquired by the ruling conservative People Power Party lawmaker Chung Kyung-hee from the Ministry of Education, Sunday, noted that 100 teachers from public schools nationwide took their own lives between 2018 and June of this year.

The majority of these educators, amounting to 57, were elementary school teachers, followed by 28 high school teachers and 15 middle school teachers. Despite elementary school teachers constituting the largest percentage of the total 441,795 teachers in the country as of last year, the number of suicides in this group is alarmingly high.

Of the 30 deaths, where the cause was identified, over half were attributed to depression and panic disorders. Other causes included family disputes, health-related despair, mandatory military service pressures and personal issues.

The number of teacher suicides steadily increased from 14 in 2018's to 22 in 2022; it dropped slightly to 19 last year but marks 11 already in the first half of this year, hinting that the annual figure could be higher by year's end.

By region, 40 percent of the deaths occurred in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, which has relatively more schools, students and teachers.

In other parts of the country, Busan saw nine deaths by suicide, followed by other regions ranging from between eight and three deaths. The offices of education at Gwangju, Jeju and North Chungcheong Province reported no teacher deaths by suicide in the cited period.

Meanwhile, the education sector faces a human resources shortage as it struggles to address the escalating work-driven mental health crisis faced by teachers.

Teachers dressed in black gather to mourn the recent death by suicide of an elementary school teacher by participating in a large-scale rally in central Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

According to the Korean Educational Development Institute, the number of teachers' visits to psychotherapy centers operated by regional educational offices marked a record high of 36,367 during the first semester last year.

Seventeen regional educational offices each run centers to help protect teachers' rights and provide them with psychological aid. Demand for such services has been on a steep rise, showing a 74.5 percent jump from 19,310 in 2020 to 33,704 in 2021. However, there are only 26 professional counselors active in these centers throughout the country as of June.

Police and the education authorities are still conducting investigations into the death of a 23-year-old teacher who was found dead from an apparent suicide in her classroom in central Seoul, July 18.

Her death triggered teachers from across the country to speak up about the harsh working environment they face from excessive parental complaints and to call for legislative reforms to enhance protections for teachers.

Teachers from across the country hold a massive rally calling for the public education reform near Gyeongbokgung Station in Jongno District, Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

On Saturday, over 30,000 teachers from across the country gathered and staged a large-scale protest and condemned their working conditions, demanding improved working conditions and stronger protections of their rights.

Under the scorching heat, the participants wore black in a show of respect for the deceased teacher and urged the authorities to come up with countermeasures to protect teachers' rights and amend laws related to punishment for child abuse, which they said could see innocent teachers wrongly accused and impede their educational activities.

This is the second weekend of collective action held by teachers since July 22.

lhr@koreatimes.co.kr