Jo Hee-yeon Bowing His Head: "Opposing the Abolition of the Student Human Rights Ordinance... Will Prepare Comprehensive Measures"

Expansion of Teacher Litigation Costs, Distribution of Recording Devices
Legislative Urging for Immunity in Child Abuse Reports

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, recently promised a thorough investigation to uncover the truth regarding the incident in which an elementary school teacher took their own life. He announced urgent tasks to be implemented, including revising related laws such as the Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to address issues of teacher authority violations.

On the afternoon of the 24th, Superintendent Cho held a joint press conference with three teacher organizations (Seoul Teachers' Union Federation, Seoul Teachers' Labor Union, and the National Teachers' Union) where he made these remarks. The press conference was attended by Seok Seung-ha, Senior Vice President of the Seoul Teachers' Union Federation, Park Geun-byeong, Chairman of the Seoul Teachers' Labor Union, and Kim Seong-bok, Head of the Seoul Branch of the National Teachers' Union.

He bowed his head and said, "I pray for the repose of the deceased, who devoted themselves to teaching students with more passion and responsibility than anyone else. I also sincerely apologize to all teachers who are grieving and shedding tears together because of this incident."

He then announced that a joint investigation team would be formed with the Ministry of Education to conduct a meticulous investigation into the incident. Superintendent Cho emphasized, "To resolve this issue, we will first listen carefully to the voices from the school field and work with the Ministry of Education, the National Assembly, the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and various teacher organizations to establish a table for legal and institutional improvements, striving with extraordinary determination to achieve concrete progress."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the three teacher organizations announced urgent tasks. First, for Seoul Seoi Elementary School, where the teacher's death occurred, and an elementary school in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, where a teacher assault incident took place, counseling and treatment support will be provided to staff, students, and the affected teacher suffering from trauma.

They also stated that they will create educational activity guidelines and discuss the production of response manuals through a comprehensive investigation of problematic behavior among children.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

To protect teachers experiencing infringements on their educational activities, they plan to expand coverage of the 'Teacher Safety Mutual Aid' service, which functions as comprehensive insurance. Additionally, specific measures such as separating students who cause serious disruptions, distributing recording devices, and providing proactive legal support will be considered.

They also proposed pushing for legislation in the National Assembly. Through amendments to the 'Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (Child Abuse Punishment Act)' and the 'Elementary and Secondary Education Act,' provisions such as immunity rights to protect teachers from indiscriminate child abuse reports should be included. Alongside this, they argued that the 'Special Act on the Status Improvement and Protection of Educational Activities for Teachers (Teacher Status Act)' should be amended to legally mandate the immediate separation of students and teachers when infringement acts occur.

They also demanded that the obligation to take action against perpetrators of educational activity infringements be explicitly stated in the law. If the Teacher Authority Protection Committee determines that infringement acts by students or parents are clear, legal measures should be in place to impose sanctions.

They urged the passage of the 'Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Educational Activity Protection Ordinance,' which Seoul City previously proposed to the Seoul Metropolitan Council.

After the press conference, Superintendent Cho responded to criticisms from some political and educational circles regarding the 'Student Human Rights Ordinance,' stating, "I firmly oppose the abolition of the Student Human Rights Ordinance," and added, "We are actively considering and reviewing the inclusion of provisions on student responsibilities alongside their rights."

In a separate statement, he said, "We should not overly simplify the cause to a single factor, but rather prepare comprehensive measures to change the current reality where teachers' educational activities are being severely damaged," emphasizing the need for a holistic approach.

Regarding political criticism of the 'recording in student records' proposal, he said, "Even among superintendents, opinions differ on this issue. Some believe it can serve as a warning and preventive measure, while others think it could lead to excessive follow-up lawsuits against teachers." He added, "It seems this will continue to be a topic of discussion."

On immediate support measures for teachers, he said, "We are discussing increasing the scale of support for litigation costs for affected teachers to up to 5.5 million KRW within the 1st to 3rd trial stages, and we are considering providing unlimited support for healing counseling services." He also mentioned, "Currently, the responsible teacher handles complaint calls, but we are considering establishing a dedicated call center or other measures to prevent the responsible teacher from being directly exposed."

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