Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Decides to Award a Total of 10 Million Won Including Rewards to Whistleblowers

Deliberation and Resolution of the 1st Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Public Interest Whistleblowing Committee in 2024

The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education recently held the ‘2024 1st Public Interest Whistleblower Committee’ and deliberated and resolved the selection of public interest whistleblowers and the payment of relief funds and rewards to whistleblowers, the office announced on the 18th.

Teacher A, who directly reported to the Office of Education about the presence of a ghost employee in the school administration office, was selected as a ‘public interest whistleblower,’ and Teacher B, who actively cooperated with the Office of Education’s audit regarding private school teacher recruitment corruption, was selected as a ‘public interest whistleblower, etc.’

Following Teacher A’s report, the Office of Education conducted an audit, imposed disciplinary action on the school personnel involved, issued a warning to the institution, and recovered the full amount of approximately 240 million KRW paid as personnel expenses to the said employee.

The committee recognized that Teacher A’s report contributed to the transparent operation of private schools and the eradication of corruption, and the Office of Education plans to pay Teacher A a reward of 3 million KRW.

Additionally, the Office of Education will provide 7 million KRW as relief funds to Teacher B, who personally bore part of the attorney fees related to lawsuits over dismissal and accusations following the public interest whistleblowing after private school teacher recruitment.

Superintendent Lee Jeong-seon stated, “This decision regarding the two individuals who contributed to transparent education in Gwangju reflects our Office of Education’s commitment to clean education in Gwangju,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to actively support and protect public interest whistleblowers.”

Meanwhile, to promote activation, the Office of Education established an ‘Online Public Interest Whistleblowing Center’ last October, allowing any Gwangju citizen to easily report public interest violations related to the Office of Education’s affairs through the Office’s website under Civil Complaints & Administrative Plaza - Reporting Center - Corruption & Public Interest Reporting Center - Public Interest Whistleblowing Center.

In addition, since November, the Office has been operating an ‘Anonymous Proxy Reporting System,’ which allows whistleblowers to have a dedicated attorney report on their behalf without revealing their personal information.

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