"If an Accident Happens, Teachers Go to Jail"... The Real Reason Behind Fewer School Trips

The main reason behind the decline of field experience learning has been identified as teachers’ concerns over criminal liability. The number of overnight experiential learning programs has dropped to about half, and schools are increasingly reluctant to organize such activities.

Image extracted by AI depicting a school trip scene

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According to the “2026 Field Experience Learning Status Survey” conducted last month by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), which surveyed 789 branch leaders nationwide, only 53.4% of schools had conducted overnight experiential learning in the past year. Meanwhile, 25.9% of schools only organized one-day outings, 10.8% replaced field trips with in-school activities, and 7.2% had effectively discontinued field experience learning altogether.

Such changes are rooted in teachers’ concerns over legal liability. Of the respondents, 89.6% said they felt anxiety that they could be held criminally responsible if an accident occurred during a field experience activity, with over half of them (54.8%) reporting “very high anxiety.”

The most commonly cited area for improvement was “strengthening teachers’ criminal liability exemption,” at 80.9%. This was followed by “limiting or stopping overnight experiential learning” (30.8%) and “clarifying safety measures standards” (26.6%).

It is analyzed that these concerns intensified after the verdict of an experiential learning accident that occurred in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, in November 2022. At that time, an elementary school student died after being struck by a reversing charter bus in a parking lot during a field experience activity, and both the homeroom teacher and an assistant chaperone were prosecuted on charges of involuntary manslaughter due to occupational negligence.

The court of first instance found that the homeroom teacher had failed to fulfill their duty of care while supervising the students and sentenced the teacher to six months in prison, suspended for two years. In contrast, the assistant chaperone was acquitted, as their specific responsibilities were deemed unclear.

On appeal, the homeroom teacher’s sentence was reduced to a stay of adjudication, allowing them to remain in the teaching profession. However, the incident is viewed as a turning point that has heightened concerns among teachers about legal liabilities when accidents occur during field experience activities.

The KTU stated, “The fear of criminal liability ultimately leads to a reduction in educational activities and deprives students of learning opportunities,” and urged, “The application of occupational negligence charges to accidents during educational activities should be excluded, and the operating standards for overnight experiential learning, which carries greater risk of accidents, should be thoroughly reviewed.”

Meanwhile, amid these burdens, controversy over the cost of school trips has also been growing recently. As accommodation and transportation costs rise, the financial burden on parents has increased, leading to a trend of reducing or even replacing school trips altogether.

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