'Seoicho 1st Anniversary' Memorial... Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon: "I Will Overcome the Gap Between Policy and Reality"

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, commemorating the first anniversary of Seoi Elementary School, emphasized the need to revise the Child Abuse Punishment Act, stating that "there is still a significant gap between policy and the reality of schools."

On the morning of the 15th, Superintendent Cho spoke in front of the memorial space set up at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul, saying, "A year ago, the Seoi Elementary School incident caused pain and anger among many teachers, and with their outcry, we have been striving to create a legal and institutional environment different from the past."

He explained, "With the pain and outcry of the teachers, we established the Teacher's Rights Protection Act. Additionally, to address the reality where teachers suffer from various lawsuits, we have created various support measures and newly redefined the student life regulations."

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He continued, "On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Seoi Elementary School incident, we will once again make efforts to narrow the gap and mismatch between the school field and the legal, institutional, and policy environment we have created since the incident."

Regarding the point that the number of teacher's rights violations has not decreased even after the death of the Seoi Elementary School teacher, he said, "This reflects that the vigilance of parents and other parties who violate teacher's rights has increased accordingly," adding, "The vigilance of various educational stakeholders may have at least created a teacher's rights violation situation different from the past."

He also added that additional legislative measures by the National Assembly, such as revising the Child Abuse Punishment Act, are necessary. Superintendent Cho stated, "It is necessary to supplement the emotional abuse clause in the Child Abuse Punishment Act, which constrains the educational field and serves as a basis for infringing on teachers' rights," and said, "When the emotional abuse clause is applied in schools, there should be strict limitation provisions so that parents and various educational stakeholders cannot abuse it. I believe more delicate restriction provisions should be added to the law."

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