Ratio of Female Elementary Schoolteachers Exceeds 90 Percent

The ratio of successful female candidates for the appointment examination of elementary schoolteachers in Seoul district exceeded 90 percent for the first time.

According to a survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) on the state of successful candidates in the appointment examination of 2005, “the excess of female schoolteachers” is getting more remarkable. A total of 553 females, 90.3 percent of the total number of 590 successful candidates, passed the examination this year.

In 2003, 635 (89.9 percent) out of 706 successful candidates were female. Last year, 597 (89.8 percent) out of 665 were female.

In elementary schools in Seoul last April, when there were 26,588 schoolteachers in total, the number of males was 5,112 (19.2 percent) and that of females was 21,476 (80.8 percent).

This was a nationwide trend. A total of 70 percent of elementary schoolteachers nationwide were female last April.

“As there are fewer male undergraduates and their scores in the appointment examination for teachers are relatively low, the ratio of female teachers is increasing more and more,” said an official of the SMOE.

Even in the appointment examination for middle school teachers in the Seoul district, there were merely 58 (13.9 percent) successful male candidates, while the number of females reached 367 (86.1 percent).

Of the 19,541 middle school teachers in Seoul, the number of females, 12,474 (65.4 percent), is more than that of males. In high school, of the 22,145 teachers, there are 8,130 (36.7 percent) female teachers.

Seong-Chul Hong sungchul@donga.com