”I regret becoming a teacher” - South Korea ranks first among countries surveyed by the OECD for complaints from parents as the biggest source of stress

A survey has found that the biggest source of work stress for South Korean teachers is complaints from parents. The level of stress teachers feel in response to complaints is comparable to that of other countries.
The Teaching and Learning Survey, run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
According to the results of the 2024 TALIS International Survey, teachers cited 'dealing with complaints from parents' (56.9%) as the main cause of stress.
Next were excessive administrative work (46.9%), maintaining order in the classroom (48.8%), responding to requests from external administrative agencies such as the Ministry of Education or the Board of Education (42.7%), and threats or abusive language from students.
(31.2%) were also cited as causes of stress. The percentage of respondents who answered that complaints from parents were the main cause of stress was the second highest among the countries surveyed, after Portugal (60.6%).
The proportion of students who said verbal abuse from students was a source of stress was also higher than the OECD average, the fourth highest among the countries surveyed.
21% of teachers regret becoming a teacher, the highest rate among all countries surveyed.
The percentage of teachers who believe that teaching is a profession with more advantages than disadvantages was also 76.9%, higher than the OECD average (73.9%).
The percentage of teachers who believe that the teaching profession is socially recognized is 35.2%.
While this was higher than the OECD average (21.7%), it was a 32% drop compared to the 2018 TALIS survey. In this survey, 11.9% of Korean teachers reported that work stress was affecting their mental health.
The proportion of teachers who experienced negative effects on their physical health was 10.5%, 1.9 percentage points higher than the OECD average (10.0%).
However, the proportion of people who answered that they were 'very stressed' at work was 15.9%, lower than the OECD average of 19.3%.
TALIS, which began in 2008, is a survey led by the OECD and conducted every 5 to 6 years.
The 2024 Junior High School Survey included 12 junior high school teachers from 54 countries (32 OECD member countries and 22 non-member countries).
In South Korea, 3,477 middle school teachers and 173 principals participated in the survey. Meanwhile, teachers' working hours average 43.1 hours per week, of which 11,000 are teaching hours.
Compared to the OECD average of 18.7 hours (working hours 41.0 hours, teaching hours 22.7 hours), working hours were long but teaching hours were relatively short.