96% of Students and Parents Say "Inappropriate" Regarding Disciplinary Policy for Teachers Involved in Collective Action

A survey result showed that it is inappropriate for the Ministry of Education to discipline teachers who are engaging in collective action on the 49th-day memorial of an elementary school teacher in Seocho-gu, Seoul, scheduled for the 4th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Good Teacher Movement conducted an online survey from the 30th of last month to the 1st, targeting 324,004 people excluding teachers (21,006 students, 91,723 parents, and 211,275 general citizens), and announced that 96% (311,590 people) responded that disciplining teachers by the Ministry of Education related to collective action is inappropriate.

Among them, 88.1% answered that disciplining teachers is 'very inappropriate,' and 8% said it is 'inappropriate.' Only 2.6% of respondents answered that disciplining teachers is 'very appropriate or appropriate.'

Regarding the Ministry of Education’s policy that principals who approve teachers’ annual leave, sick leave, or discretionary holidays for collective memorial actions can also be disciplined, 93.5% (85.5% very inappropriate, 8% inappropriate) responded that it is inappropriate.

When asked about the extent of responsibility of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho for issues including the Seoicho incident and infringements on teachers’ rights, 95.3% of respondents said the responsibility is significant.

The Good Teacher Movement stated, "Although the majority think the disciplinary warnings against teachers are very inappropriate, the Ministry of Education is maintaining a tough stance on teachers’ designation of annual leave, sick leave, and discretionary holidays on September 4," adding, "The more teachers are pressured with disciplinary policies, the more confusion will worsen in school sites."

Meanwhile, teachers will hold a '500,000 Teachers’ General Rally Memorial Meeting' in front of the National Assembly on the 2nd. Since the death of a Seoicho teacher on July 18, teachers have been holding memorial rallies every Saturday in downtown Seoul, and this will be the seventh rally.

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