Women account for three of every four elementary teachers

SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- More than three out of every four elementary school teachers in South Korea are women, government data showed Monday, indicating potential problems in the education of young students caused by a serious gender imbalance and the lack of presence of male teachers.
Among a total of 180,623 teachers at elementary schools nationwide, males accounted for only 24.2 percent, or 43,794, as of April, according to the data released by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology that was submitted for an annual parliamentary audit.
By region, the male ratio was the lowest in Seoul with 15 percent, followed by Daejeon with 15.6 percent, Daegu with 19 percent and Busan with 19.6 percent, the report said.
There were 39 schools that did not have any male teachers, with 18 of them located in South Jeolla Province, it noted.
By contrast, men accounted for 84.6 percent of the nation's elementary school principals, totaling 5,834.
Rep. Kim Choon-jin of the Democratic Party, who released the report, urged the government to prepare measures to solve the female-heavy gender imbalance of primary school educators.
"It is important that both male and female teachers show gender models for elementary students, who are taking the first step in learning," Kim said in a release.
"Men's dominance among elementary school principals should also be overhauled," the lawmaker said.