Another Setback for Ministry of Education Policy... Teacher Organizations React Strongly to Announcement of 'Neulbom School Expansion'

Government "Expanding Pilot Operation Areas and Implementing Neulbom Teacher System"
Teachers' Union "Teachers Overburdened... Fundamental Issues Must Be Addressed First"

The government announced the Neulbom School policy, including the establishment of a dedicated teacher system to respond to the demand for elementary care, but teachers' organizations strongly opposed it, saying that school work is overloaded, creating a conflict from the starting point.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Education held the 4th Social Relations Ministers' Meeting at the Government Sejong Complex and announced the "Elementary Care Waiting List Resolution and 2nd Semester Neulbom School Policy Operation Direction," which includes these contents. Neulbom School means "a school that always sees children warmly like spring," and it is a policy that provides care at school in the morning and evening (from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., up to 13 hours). Since March, it has been piloted in five metropolitan and provincial offices of education: Incheon, Daejeon, Gyeonggi, Jeonnam, and Gyeongbuk.

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is giving a briefing on the resolution of the waiting list for elementary school care and the operational direction of the Neulbom School policy for the second semester at the government Sejong Complex on the 17th.
[Photo by Ministry of Education]

According to the operation direction announced by the Ministry of Education this time, the number of pilot education offices for Neulbom School, currently five, will increase to 7-8 in the second semester of this year, and the number of pilot schools will increase from 214 to more than 300. To more actively resolve the current waiting demand of about 8,700 elementary care students, dedicated personnel will be expanded by selecting 'teachers' in charge of Neulbom School. To this end, the Ministry of Education plans to establish a special law to support Neulbom School in the second half of this year to provide a legal basis and prepare qualification requirements and placement standards.

However, voices of opposition have not ceased in the field regarding this announcement by the Ministry of Education. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) stated, "Initially, the Ministry of Education said it would shift after-school programs to be centered on education offices and assign administrative personnel to reduce school work," adding, "This announcement is the Ministry of Education itself admitting that the Neulbom School policy was hasty, and a care system operated by local governments separate from schools should be established."

The response of teachers' organizations to the Neulbom School dedicated teacher system is also lukewarm. The Federation of Teachers' Unions pointed out, "Announcing plans to expand care spaces and spread Neulbom Schools to resolve the waiting list for elementary care classrooms is to expand and reproduce the problems of Neulbom School to more schools," and "Most pilot schools could not find EduCare personnel for first graders, so first-grade homeroom teachers were assigned to the work." They added, "The fundamental problems of Neulbom-related personnel, budget, and space must be resolved."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) also emphasized in a statement, "Before relaxing eligibility for care classroom applications or expanding Neulbom classrooms, the work should be practically transferred so that teachers do not perform these tasks," and "Neulbom School work should be clearly transferred to local government public employees and dedicated support personnel, who should be held responsible." They also expressed skepticism, saying, "It is doubtful whether the teacher quota for Neulbom teachers will be granted at a time when new teacher recruitment is being drastically reduced."

The Seoul Teachers' Union also opposed, saying, "There is a difference between spaces appropriate for education and spaces appropriate for care," and "Care should be designed focusing on rest, relaxation, and play, so educational spaces are not suitable." Despite the continued opposition from the education field, the Ministry of Education has not issued any particular stance.

In the education field, there are suggestions that it would be more effective to reform the system by inducing supply through building expertise, such as introducing a rank system for care specialists. Park Seongsik, Policy Director of the National Education Public Officials Headquarters, said, "Care is one of the tasks that teachers avoid, so it is difficult to secure temporary teachers, and teaching experience and care expertise are distinctly different," adding, "A rank system for care specialists should be established, and as expertise accumulates, they should be recognized as higher-level specialized personnel."

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