Ministry of Education Announces 'Seoi Elementary' Investigation After 17 Days... "Deceased Faced Difficulties with Problematic Students"

Joint Investigation by Ministry of Education and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education
Multiple Parent Calls After 'Yeonpil Incident'
Excessive Workload, Use of Unpreferred Classrooms

Regarding the 'Seoi Elementary School Teacher Death Incident,' the Ministry of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education conducted independent investigations and found that last month, an incident occurred in the deceased teacher's class where a student was injured, and a parent made several phone calls to the deceased. It was also confirmed that the deceased had been struggling since the beginning of the semester with managing students exhibiting problematic behavior and an excessive workload.

The joint investigation team from the Ministry of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education held a briefing at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 4th to disclose these investigation results. The team investigated the facts related to various suspicions raised in the statement released by Seoi Elementary School and the media from the 24th of last month, after the incident on the 18th, until the 4th of this month, and collected opinions from the field.

Previously, the principal of Seoi Elementary School issued a statement on the 19th of last month, stating, "Since March 1, there has been no change in the homeroom teacher of the deceased's class, and there have been no reports of school violence in that class this year," and "The teacher in question has never visited the Education Support Office." Vice Minister Jang Sang-yoon of the Ministry of Education explained, "There were no reports of school violence filed in the deceased's homeroom class. However, an incident between students, known as the 'pencil incident,' was confirmed."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the investigation team, on the 12th of last month during class, one student stabbed another student's bag with a pencil. When the other student tried to stop him and took the pencil away, he accidentally scratched his own forehead, causing an injury. On the day of the 'pencil incident,' the injured student's parent called the deceased several times on their mobile phone, and the deceased reportedly expressed anxiety to a colleague teacher about the parent knowing their phone number.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency revealed on the 31st of last month that the deceased had multiple phone conversations with the parent during the week before their death. The investigation team added that the circumstances under which the parent obtained the deceased's phone number and whether there were any verbal abuses related to the homeroom teacher's qualifications would need to be confirmed through police investigations.

The investigation team also confirmed that the deceased had difficulties managing students with problematic behavior from the beginning of the semester and had a heavy workload toward the end of the semester. During the Q&A session after the briefing, Vice Minister Jang explained, "Students A and B involved in the pencil incident were among those the deceased had difficulty managing, and there are two more students who were continuously mentioned in records and interviews by fellow teachers." It was reported that the deceased had made statements such as "I contacted the parents but felt somewhat uncomfortable," and "The student once shouted and caused a disturbance when things went wrong while cutting with scissors" during counseling and guidance sessions with these students.

Additionally, although the classroom assigned to the deceased was randomly allocated, it was explained that the deceased used a less preferred classroom due to a shortage of teaching spaces.

However, there was no change in the homeroom teacher position in the deceased's class, and the 'NEIS' tasks and first-grade homeroom assignment were based on the deceased's top preferences. Regarding allegations involving politicians, it was stated, "It is presumed that no politician's family is in the relevant class."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

As a result of a survey conducted by the investigation team targeting Seoi Elementary School teachers over two days from the 27th to the 28th of last month (with 41 respondents, accounting for 63% of teachers), about 49% of respondents answered that they had experienced infringement of their teaching authority. Additionally, 70% of respondents reported experiencing parent complaints or protests at least once a month, and six respondents said they experienced such complaints more than seven times a month.

The teachers who responded to the survey indicated difficulties in handling parent interactions due to concurrent duties outside of homeroom responsibilities, overcrowded classes, interference, and harsh language. They also reported insufficient support for guiding maladjusted students with emotional instability, conduct disorders, and interpersonal anxiety.

During the Q&A session, Vice Minister Jang Sang-yoon said, "According to testimonies from fellow teachers, 'The parent was extremely angry during the call,' and 'There was great anxiety about how the parent knew the personal mobile phone number.' Considering these, it seems there was significant stress related to parent complaints." Regarding NEIS tasks, he added, "At the end of the semester, many records and tasks need to be processed, and these factors likely acted in a very complex manner."

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