Seoul, April 24 : The South Korean government plans to slash hiring of new teachers across all elementary, middle and high schools by 20-30 per cent by 2027 amid a steep fall in the school-age population, the Education Ministry said on Monday. The decision was released as part of the Ministry's long-term teacher employment plan for the 2024-2027 period, reports Yonhap News Agency. Under the plan, 2,900-3,200 new elementary school teachers will be employed annually in 2024 and 2025, marking a cut of 18.6 per cent at maximum from the 3,561 teachers hired in 2023. The target range will be further slashed to 2,600-2,900 for the following two years, representing a cut of up to 27 per cent. In comparison with 4,898 teachers hired in 2023, annual employment of new middle- and high-school teachers will also be reduced by up to 18.3 per cent for the 2024-2025 period to 4,000-4,500 and up to 28.5 per cent for the 2026-2027 period to 3,500-4,000, the Ministry said. With the plan's implementation, the number of students per teacher is expected to go down to 12.4 at elementary schools by 2027 and 12.3 at middle and high schools. /IANS