Daegu Teachers' Union 'Double Welcome' to Seoul Superintendent's Equal Distribution Proposal for Teacher Performance Bonuses

Seoul Superintendent of Education Raises Public Opinion on Facebook on the 15th with "At Least This Year..."
Daegu Teachers' Union States "Evaluation Criteria Do Not Reflect Reality Amid COVID-19 Situation"

The photo shows Jinin on August 5th taking a commemorative photo as Daegu Office of Education and Daegu Teachers' Union enter collective bargaining concerning improvements in teachers' working conditions.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Jo Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, proposed a comprehensive review of the 'Teacher Performance Bonus System,' which was welcomed by the Daegu Teachers' Union (Chairman Kim Ha-jin), urging decisive action from the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, the Council of Superintendents of Provincial Offices of Education, and the Ministry of Education.

On the 15th, the Daegu Teachers' Union stated in a commentary, "School sites are experiencing difficulties due to conflicts among members caused by the multi-faceted evaluations for performance bonus payments," pointing out that "this is because, although the operation of the curriculum has changed from previous years due to the COVID-19 situation, the evaluation criteria do not reflect the reality at all."

They continued, "How can anyone rank and grade among health teachers who are overwhelmed with quarantine duties, elementary teachers who work hard every day for care, secondary teachers who strived for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), teachers who managed both in-person and remote classes, and teachers who worked hard to establish remote learning systems?"

They emphasized, "Evaluations for performance bonuses are mostly quantitative, making it difficult to measure achievements in various educational activities, life guidance, and counseling. Teacher performance bonuses undermine teachers' voluntary passion for education and only foster conflicts within school sites."

The Daegu Teachers' Union added, "The Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education should also comfort all teachers who worked hard on quarantine and student educational activities during the COVID-19 situation this year by responding with equal distribution of teacher performance bonuses."

Earlier, on the 15th, Jo Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, posted on his Facebook titled 'Proposing a Comprehensive Review of the Teacher Performance Bonus System in the COVID-19 Situation,' stating, "I propose equal distribution of performance bonuses at least for 2020, when we endured COVID-19 together."

He further stated, "If equal distribution is difficult, I propose minimizing the differential payment rate temporarily considering realistic conditions, or at least lowering it to 25% or less, which is half of the current differential payment rate," expressing his intention to officially submit this as an agenda item to the upcoming Council of Superintendents of Provincial Offices of Education and to request active review by the Ministry of Education.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.