Seoul to hire 694 public secondary school teachers for 2027, down 31% from previous year

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will recruit 694 teachers for public secondary schools and special education, health, nutrition, library and professional counseling positions for the 2027 school year — 306 fewer, or 30.6 percent less, than the 1,000 hired the previous year. The overall reduction was driven largely by a cut in secondary subject teacher slots, which fell from 900 to 584.

The education office said Wednesday it would post the implementation plan for the 2027 competitive teacher appointment examination on its website.

The public school recruitment breakdown is: 584 secondary subject teachers, 26 special education (secondary) teachers, 23 health teachers, 32 nutrition teachers, 6 librarians and 23 professional counselors. The total combines 640 general slots and 54 slots set aside for people with disabilities. The figure is 36 more than the preliminary estimate announced in August.

The number of secondary subject teachers to be hired is 316 fewer, or 35.1 percent less, than the previous year. By subject, mathematics sees the steepest cut — from 158 to 81, roughly half the previous year's figure. Earth science drops from 52 to 10, physical education from 80 to 49, English from 87 to 62, and Korean language from 97 to 85. Informatics and computer science, by contrast, rises slightly from 25 to 26. Classical Chinese and mechanical engineering, which had no slots last year, will each hire three teachers.

Special education (secondary) and health each lose one slot compared with the previous year. Nutrition rises from 26 to 32, library from 3 to 6, and professional counseling from 20 to 23. "The recruitment size was determined by factoring in changes to teacher quotas, retirements, honorary retirements and leaves of absence," an education office official said.

Applications will be accepted online through the public school staff recruitment system from Oct. 12 to Oct. 16. Inquiries about applications and the examination can be directed to the Seoul Education Call Center.

The first-round written exam will be held Nov. 28, with results announced Dec. 29. The second-round practical and laboratory assessment will take place Jan. 14 next year, followed by a lesson-plan writing and teaching demonstration on Jan. 20 and an in-depth teaching aptitude interview on Jan. 21. Final results will be announced Feb. 5 next year.

Starting with this examination cycle, the education office has explicitly listed smart glasses as prohibited items at exam venues. The move is intended to prevent cheating using the latest information and communications devices, on top of the existing ban on all electronic devices.