Seoul Schools to Pilot 150 Civil Complaint Counseling Rooms to "Protect Teachers' Educational Activities"

Significant Expansion of Teacher Protection Measures, Including Support for Work Phones

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has decided to pilot the establishment of 'civil complaint counseling rooms' at 150 elementary, middle, high, and special schools. The initiative aims to strengthen an institution-centered response system in order to protect teachers' educational activities from various civil complaints.

On May 13, the Office announced that it will invest 970 million won this year to: ▲ create multi-purpose civil complaint counseling spaces for parent counseling and student life guidance; ▲ equip schools with safety devices such as CCTV and emergency bells to respond to civil complaints; and ▲ provide teachers with work phones.

The civil complaint counseling room will not simply serve as a space for addressing complaints but will operate as a multi-functional area that also supports parent counseling, student life guidance, and individualized educational support for school violence prevention.

Depending on the circumstances at each school, a variety of safety devices will be installed, such as CCTV, recording phones, emergency bells, and wearable cameras. In particular, in the event of a crisis, the emergency bell system will immediately notify the teachers' office, and by using recording and video equipment, the school will be able to secure necessary documentation for responding to unusual complaints and for follow-up measures.

If a school requires a work phone (safety phone), up to 30% of the civil complaint counseling room support budget can be used for the purchase and communication fees of teachers' work phones. This is expected to help reduce the exposure of teachers' personal contact information and strengthen official communication channels.

The Office plans to analyze areas for improvement and gradually expand this pilot project in the future.

Kim Chunhong, Acting Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stated, "Protecting educational activities is a fundamental condition for safeguarding public education," adding, "We will continue to strengthen our institution-centered protection system so that teachers can focus on their educational work with peace of mind."