Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Korea's High Student-Teacher Ratio
The average number of students per teacher in Korea is 30, the highest in the world except for a few African and Asian countries, according to government and U.N. reports. According to data from the National Statistical Office and UNESCO, a Korean elementary school teacher taught 30 students on average in 2003, down from 32 in 2001 and 31 in 2002.

Only five other countries in Asia had higher ratios: Bangladesh (56), India (41), Nepal (36), the Philippines (35), and Myanmar (33). Laos and Mongolia had similar ratios (31) in 2002. The number of students per elementary school teacher was 18 in Taiwan as of 2003, 20 in Japan and Hong Kong, and 21 in China as of 2002.
by Sun-Woo Kim, Donga.com (March 1, 2006)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2006030140188

For primary education, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Mexico have relatively low salary costs per hour of instruction ($13, $15, and $16, respectively); by contrast, costs are relatively high in Denmark ($48), Germany ($49), South Korea ($62), and Switzerland ($48). Salary costs per primary teaching hour in the United States are in the middle of this range at $35. In South Korea, high costs per teaching hour at the primary level are balanced by a relatively high student/teacher ratio (31.2) and a low proportion of current expenditure on nonteaching staff, resulting in below-average expenditure per student (OECD 2000.)
Chapter 1. Elementary and Secondary Education: Teacher Working Conditions. National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c1/c1s7.htm#c1s7l3

In Germany, Ireland, South Korea, and Switzerland, among others, teachers earn at least twice the GDP per capita.
Virginia Education Association
http://www.veaweteach.org/articles_archives_detail.asp?ContentID=324

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Do they mean teachers teaching at any given time or teachers in total?

My high school has 300 students and 31 teachers; about half of us are teaching at any given time, making for class sizes of 25-30. That should be about 1:14.5. I know of many schools with a similar ratio. If 30 is an *average* that means their must be schools with a 1:40 ratio, which could mean schools with 800 students and only 20 teachers. Even in Korea I don't think that's quite possible.

[denverdeath]

Check out this study:

http://www.educationnext.org/20033/56.html

Interesting findings on how class size may not affect test results anyway. I know there's a lot more involved when it comes to ed'n than just test scores, but it's food for thought. I did a little research on this stuff before and found that the numbers in Korea are actually not much higher these days than they are in most schools in New York State(one of the areas that I was looking at).

Then again, when it comes to teaching English, I find that a smaller class is more conducive to learning and I tend to see a more noticeable improvement in the students' ability in a shorter period of time usually.

Wonder who provided the funding for the study?

[Real Reality]