Lee Ju-ho "Restoring Teacher Authority Must Be Achieved Along with Improving Parents' Awareness"

Minister of Education Holds Meeting with Parents Following Teachers' Meeting

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho emphasized that in order to prevent the increase of infringements on teachers' authority in schools, both institutional improvements and changes in parents' awareness must be achieved.

On the 3rd, Deputy Prime Minister Lee held a 'Parents' Meeting for the Restoration and Protection of Teachers' Authority' at the Government Seoul Office, stating, "Education can only stand firm when the rights and responsibilities of the three main stakeholders?students, parents, and teachers?are harmoniously respected." Earlier, the Ministry of Education held three meetings with on-site teachers starting from the 21st of last month regarding controversies over infringements on teachers' authority. This meeting was organized to hear parents' opinions on concerns that teachers' rightful guidance of students is being restrained due to indiscriminate reports of child abuse. Six parents of elementary, middle, and high school students participated in the meeting.

Meeting between the Ministry of Education and Parents for the Restoration and Protection of Teachers' Authority
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Deputy Prime Minister Lee referred to a case last month in Daegu where about 700 parents and civic groups voluntarily made a 'Parents' Declaration,' saying that changes in parents are necessary for teachers to properly carry out educational activities. He explained, "(Parents in Daegu) established slogans such as 'We will trust and support school education' and 'We will educate from home,' which marks the beginning of a social grand compromise to revive public education," adding, "Parent-led campaigns or education that monitor and filter malicious complaints are also good examples."

Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Lee emphasized, "Parents can play an important role in establishing school culture," and added, "(To protect teachers' authority,) effective institutional improvements along with raising awareness within the educational community must be achieved."

Parents attending the meeting mentioned measures such as ▲the need to establish a complaint response team ▲strengthening communication between teachers and parents ▲the necessity of parent education programs and revitalization of parent associations. Regarding the proposal to record disciplinary actions related to infringements on teachers' authority in school life records, opinions were mixed, with both agreement and concerns expressed.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "Parents also agreed on the necessity of a response team to act as a buffer because there are cases where problems worsen when teachers respond directly to complaints." He further explained that a draft notice specifying the detailed scope of teachers' guidance will be announced around mid to late this month to be implemented from the second semester.

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