Yoon: "Teacher authority must be established to guarantee student rights... I will raise homeroom and duty allowances"

President Yoon Holds Meeting with On-site Teachers
Discusses Normalization Following Revision of Four Laws Protecting Teachers' Rights
Homeroom Allowance Increased by 50%, Position Allowance More Than Doubled

President Yoon Suk-yeol met with teachers on the 6th and stated, "Teachers' authority must be established to guarantee students' right to learn and human rights." In particular, President Yoon promised to increase homeroom teacher allowances by more than 50% as well as double the position allowances. Normalizing the education field centered on establishing teachers' authority is one of the key national agenda items of the Yoon administration, and President Yoon has been urging the swift passage of the four laws protecting teachers' authority (Teacher Status Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Early Childhood Education Act, and Framework Act on Education).

On the afternoon of the same day, President Yoon held a meeting at the Presidential Office with 20 teachers from kindergarten, elementary, middle, high, and special schools, encouraging them and making these remarks. This meeting was arranged to emphasize once again the importance of establishing teachers' authority by meeting teachers who have worked to normalize the education field following the revision of the four laws protecting teachers' authority.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking during a dialogue with on-site teachers on the occasion of the Four Laws for the Protection of Educational Authority held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the 6th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At this meeting, President Yoon listened to on-site teachers, including a teacher from Seoul Seoi Elementary School, about the causes of the decline in teachers' authority, the significance of revising the four laws protecting teachers' authority, and measures to establish teachers' authority. He said, "Teachers' authority must be established to guarantee students' right to learn and human rights," and emphasized, "The government will listen more closely to voices from the field and will work harder to normalize the education field along with follow-up measures for the four laws protecting teachers' authority."

He also urged frontline teachers to actively express their opinions to enhance teachers' authority. President Yoon said, "We will continuously prepare so that you can guide students as teachers with predictability," adding, "No one knows the frontline as well as the teachers do. Please candidly present very detailed matters to the education authorities."

Regarding recent tragedies in the education field, President Yoon said, "If our government and the National Assembly had worked together a bit more to normalize the educational environment and take care of people's livelihoods, the law might have been amended sooner, the environment changed accordingly, and unfortunate incidents prevented," expressing regret and sorrow.

President Yoon specifically announced that homeroom teacher allowances, which have been frozen for a long time, will be increased by more than 50%, and position teacher allowances will be more than doubled so that teachers can receive treatment and compensation commensurate with their roles. Currently, position allowances for teachers such as department heads have been frozen at 70,000 KRW per month for 20 years since 2003, and homeroom teacher allowances, which are higher at 130,000 KRW, have also been frozen, only increasing by 20,000 KRW per month in 2016.

In addition, the government promised follow-up measures to establish teachers' authority. The Yoon administration has already adopted the guarantee of teachers' authority as a national agenda, legislated teachers' authority in student guidance through amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and its enforcement decree, and finalized the enactment of the student guidance notification. Furthermore, after President Yoon repeatedly urged the swift passage of the four laws protecting teachers' authority, the bills have also been passed in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the meeting was attended by 20 on-site teachers including those from Seoi Elementary School, kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education; Lee Bae-yong, Chairperson of the National Education Commission; Lee Gwan-seop, Senior Secretary for National Planning; Kim Eun-hye, Senior Secretary for Public Relations; and Ahn Sang-hoon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs.

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