6 out of 10 Korean teachers cite parent complaints as main source of stress: study

(123rf)

An increasing number of teachers in South Korea express discontent over their jobs, with a recent OECD survey showing nearly 60 percent of them cited complaints from parents or guardians as the most common stressors.

A total of 3,477 teachers and 173 principals from Korea participated in the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey 2024, where they were asked to name the most common stressors for teachers. Some 56.9 percent of them picked "addressing parent or guardian concerns" as the main source of stress. Following closely behind were "having too much administrative work to do (50 percent)" or "maintaining classroom discipline (49 percent)."

The percentage of Korean teachers who cited parents' concerns as the most common source of complaint was considerably higher than the OECD average of 41.6 percent. The only OECD member country to record a higher figure was Portugal, where 60.6 percent of the respondents picked this answer.

Overall, 15.9 percent of teachers in Korea said they experience stress "a lot" in their work, lower than the OECD average of 19.3 percent. However, 11.9 percent said that their job negatively impacts their mental health, which was higher than the OECD average of 10 percent.

Some 10.5 percent said that their job negatively impacted their physical stress, compared to the OECD average of 7.9 percent.

Educators from 55 education systems across the world participated in the 2024 survey.

South Korea has recorded several cases of parents issuing excessive complaints or interfering with teachers' work, sparking disputes over teachers' rights. In one landmark incident, an elementary school teacher was found dead in an apparent suicide in 2023, triggered by work-related stress linked to complaints from students' parents.

An August survey by the Korean Society for the Study of Teacher Education showed that 30.2 percent of elementary school teachers displayed a negative attitude toward teaching in 2023, a significant jump from the 17 percent recorded in 2022.