"If the teacher is pretty, there are no complaints" Gyeongnam Office of Education audits principal over abusive remarks

The Gyeongnam Office of Education has recently launched an audit regarding an incident of school principal abuse at an elementary school in the province.

According to the provincial Office of Education and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), on the 31st of last month, a post by a female teacher from an elementary school in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, was uploaded to Indischool, an online community exclusively for elementary school teachers.

Gyeongnam Office of Education.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

The post contained statements that Teacher A reportedly heard from the principal after newly being assigned on September 1st.

Teacher A wrote that the principal said, "Our school is similar to Seoi Elementary School and might even be worse," and, "To reduce complaints, you have to manage your appearance by even going into debt to buy clothes, wear makeup, and get eyebrow tattoos."

She added, "These days, kids look at teachers from head to toe. If the teacher is pretty, there are no complaints."

She also wrote that the principal, in front of students, wrote both her career and Teacher A’s career on the blackboard and said, "Teacher A’s career is short, so you all are having a hard time," and asked, "Who is prettier, the homeroom teacher or the principal?"

When a student she was teaching bullied others by slapping their cheeks and a parent requested a meeting, the principal reportedly said at a staff meeting, "New teachers often receive complaints from parents because they lack experience."

Teacher A confessed, "One day, I suddenly found myself writing a suicide note on the computer screen," and expressed, "I felt sad and heartbroken thinking about how I ended up like this."

She wrote, "I have endured the past two months, but when I look at the prescribed medicine bottles, sorrow overwhelms me," and added, "I was really healthy when I passed the teacher certification exam and enjoyed hobbies during the six months of waiting."

The post has since been deleted.

The provincial Office of Education confirmed the post on the 31st and is currently verifying the facts through the relevant education support office.

On the 3rd, they sent an official letter preparing for an audit to the school and announced plans to visit the school for an on-site investigation on the 6th.

The Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union is holding a press conference.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

That morning, the Gyeongnam branch of the KTU held a press conference regarding this matter, urging the provincial Office of Education to conduct a thorough investigation and establish countermeasures.

The Gyeongnam branch stated, "After the death of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School in Seoul, many teachers and citizens have been calling for the protection of teachers’ rights and educational activities, but how should we understand the reality where a teacher at an elementary school in Yangsan is writing a suicide note due to abuse by the principal?"

They said, "The continuous abuse by administrators is not just a personal deviation but a result of the absence of laws and systems," and demanded ▲ compliance with the victim teacher’s requests ▲ annual comprehensive surveys on abuse victims among all teachers ▲ strengthening measures to prevent secondary harm from abuse reports ▲ operation of a complaint response team ▲ separation and guidance of students who disrupt educational activities.

A branch official said, "The victim teacher is afraid because they do not know when they will face the principal," and added, "As requested by the victim teacher, the perpetrator principal and the victim teacher must be immediately separated, and strict punishment must be imposed on the principal for violations of teacher rights and human rights who has made statements that amount to abandoning their role as an educator."

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