Education crisis deepens as teachers face mounting pressure

Education crisis deepens as teachers face mounting pressure

2026-08-09

The hit Korean drama Teach You a Lesson has sparked discussion about issues within the South Korean school system, such as bullying, overbearing parents, and a decline in faculty authority. Similar issues exist in Taiwan, with an FTV investigation finding that 65 teachers died by suicide from 2020 to 2024. Teachers say workloads are heavy and that school affairs committees have become a tool for unreasonable complaints by students and parents.

Former students fill a funeral hall to bid farewell to their beloved teacher. Back in May, a Kaohsiung elementary-school teacher fell to his death on campus, shocking the community.

Huang Hsiang-hsien
Teachers’ union acting chair
There were two classes that were impossible to manage.

The teacher had taught for 33 years, dedicating his life to education and inspiring countless students. But it seems he was under immense pressure due to issues with discipline in his classes.

Lee Ya-wen
Kaohsiung Teachers’ Union chair
All the teachers at this school face enormous pressure when it comes to disciplining students, because parents make unreasonable complaints all the time. When parents get angry, they don’t just report the homeroom teacher, they also report the student affairs director involved in handling the case.

Teachers not only have to deal with students and parents who file complaints at the slightest issue, but the school affairs committee has also become a tool for students and parents to repeatedly report teachers.

Hsieh Ssu-hua
Middle-school teacher
I just asked him if he wasn’t practicing math as much, and even though this was just to better understand him, it made his father very angry. His father said my question would destroy the child’s life. Then a committee member told me that I had been reported so many times that if not even one was substantiated, parents would feel the committee was siding with the teachers.

Lee Ya-wen
Kaohsiung Teachers’ Union chair
The school affairs committee is being abused. It’s become a haven for unreasonable complaints. If I wanted to target a teacher, even without evidence or facts, I could use AI to make up a story and file a complaint against them, and they would still be investigated.

More and more teachers are getting fed up with the education system and choosing to leave. Taiwan is now facing a shortage of teachers, and its education system is in danger of collapsing. How to solve this issue remains a major challenge.

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