One in five schools in Korea currently has no native English-speaking teachers, governmental data showed on Friday.

As of the end of April, 8,520 foreign English teachers were employed at the country’s 11,368 primary, middle and high schools. The number is down 800 from a year ago, representing an 8.5 percent drop, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said.

Some 18 percent of schools, or 2,065, currently have no English speaking assistant teachers.

The shortage in English-speaking teachers was greatest in Gyeonggi Province, where some 36.2 percent of schools had none.

The data came amid moves by local authorities to further slash the number of English-speaking assistant teachers due to budget constraints.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced earlier this year a cut of 4.4 billion won ($3.8 million) in its budget for employment of native teachers.

The reduction is expected to result in a massive layoff of English-speaking assistance teachers in middle and high schools in the capital area.

Currently, 1,456 foreigners are hired as English instructors at the city’s 1,126 schools. The city plans to replace almost all foreign teachers with Korean nationals in an effort to have classes focus on reading and grammar rather than speaking.

The education ministry first introduced the native-speaking teacher policy in 1995 in the country’s primary and secondary schools with the aim of enhancing the level of English in the country through public education.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)