Ministry of Education to Establish Guidelines to Prevent Teacher Rights Violations by August... Revising Student Human Rights Ordinance (Comprehensive)

Announcement of Measures at Meeting on Protecting and Restoring Teacher Authority
Criticism of Issues in the 'Student Human Rights Ordinance'
Promise to Strengthen Response System for Malicious Complaints

After the occurrence of the ‘Seoi Elementary School Incident,’ the Ministry of Education is preparing a public notice outlining the appropriate scope and methods of teachers' rightful guidance, and is also promoting the revision of the Student Human Rights Ordinance as well as the recording of cases of infringement on teachers' rights in school life records.

On the 24th, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, held a field meeting with teachers on the protection and restoration of teachers' rights at the Teachers' Union Federation in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, stating, "The Ministry of Education is taking the current situation very seriously." This meeting was held in response to the incident on the 18th, where an elementary school teacher in Seocho-gu, Seoul, took their own life.

Minister Lee promised to prepare a Ministry of Education public notice specifying the concrete scope and methods of guidance by next month. He also pointed out the problems with the Student Human Rights Ordinance and announced that the ordinance revision would be pursued concurrently. He said, "Student human rights and teachers' rights are not conflicting or opposing but rights that should be mutually respected. Nevertheless, since the enactment of the Student Human Rights Ordinance, students' rights have been excessively emphasized, causing teachers' rights to rapidly decline and leading to the collapse of public education."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier that morning, President Yoon Suk-yeol also instructed through the Senior Secretary Meeting, "Since the revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and its enforcement decree, adopted as a national agenda to strengthen teachers' rights, has recently been completed, promptly prepare the Ministry of Education's public notice as a concrete guideline for the field." He also directed, "In consultation with the ruling party and local governments, concurrently promote the revision of unreasonable local ordinances that infringe on teachers' rights."

Along with this, Minister Lee declared specific institutional improvements to establish teachers' rights. He mentioned holding school teachers' rights protection committees upon request by victimized teachers, immediate separation from offending students, and expanding the coverage of teachers' liability insurance.

He also stated that serious infringements on educational activities would be recorded in school life records to strengthen accountability for offending students. Minister Lee pledged to cooperate to ensure that amendments to the Child Welfare Act and the Child Abuse Punishment Act, aimed at improving the practice of immediate suspension upon mere reports of mobility abuse, can pass through the National Assembly.

To protect teachers from malicious complaints by some parents, he promised to improve the complaint response system by preparing a complaint response manual in cooperation with metropolitan and provincial offices of education.

Minister Lee said, "The issue of protecting and restoring teachers' rights can be sufficiently resolved if we carefully analyze the root causes, improve the system, and if students, parents, and teachers fulfill their responsibilities and work together." He added, "We will do our utmost to restore teachers' rights and strengthen educational activities."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, Deputy Minister Jang Sang-yoon of the Ministry of Education held a briefing at the Government Seoul Office in the afternoon titled 'Public Notice and Local Ordinance Revision for the Protection of Teachers' Educational Activities,' explaining that the revision of the Student Human Rights Ordinance and preparation of the public notice would be completed by next month.

In response to questions about opposition to the revision of the Student Human Rights Ordinance, Deputy Minister Jang said, "Since the ordinance was enacted focusing only on student rights, it contains very detailed records about the rights students should have." He added, "We believe that the school field should not become a field of ideology under our government." He said, "Both teachers' rights and student rights are important. Therefore, we need to revise it to achieve a balanced and appropriate approach for school life."

He further criticized, "Most teachers, 98%, just resolve issues without even going to the Teachers' Rights Protection Committee review. Therefore, there are already invisible infringements on teachers' rights affecting 98%, and the Student Human Rights Ordinance is practically operating with comprehensive and very reasonable grounds."

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