The number of teachers to be hired for public elementary schools nationwide next year has been set at 3,113. That is 1,159 fewer than this year.
The Ministry of Education on the 10th announced the results of compiling the number of hires in the notice titled "Recruitment announcement for the 2026 school year public kindergarten, elementary, and special (kindergarten/elementary) new teacher appointment exam," which the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide posted on their websites.
First, the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education will hire a total of 3,113 elementary school teachers next year. This is the same scale as the advance notice on the 8th and is down 27.1% compared with the number of hires in this year's recruitment announcement (4,272).
On this, the Ministry of Education said, "This year's new hiring temporarily increased, taking into account the number of people selected as school-level Neulbom support office heads and then transferred to fixed-term education researchers, who are local public officials," adding, "Next year's hiring number has returned to the normal level."
By region, 14 of the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices decided to reduce the number of elementary school teacher hires. The largest decrease was in Sejong at 82%. Sejong had planned to hire 39 this year but will hire only 7 next year. In Seoul, the plan is to hire 212, down 20% from this year (265), and in Gyeonggi Province, 1,077, down 39%. The number will increase in three areas: Daegu, Gangwon, and South Chungcheong.
Next year's kindergarten teacher recruitment will total 668, up 73.1% from this year (386). In Gyeonggi Province, where new kindergartens are opening, 218 will be hired, 134 more than this year (84), and Seoul plans to hire 48, 33 more than this year (15). Busan and Ulsan do not plan to hire any new kindergarten teachers.
The recruitment of special education teachers for kindergarten/elementary is 572, an increase of 32 from this year (540).
Separately, the implementation plan for the appointment exams for secondary, special (secondary), health, nutrition, librarian, and professional counseling teachers will be announced on Oct. 1.