[Anchor]
A fictional government agency dedicated to upholding teachers' rights—this is the premise of a "Teacher Protection Bureau" featured in a recent drama. As the show gains popularity, discussions about establishing a real-life dedicated organization to protect teachers' rights are gaining momentum. Do such agencies exist in other countries?
Fact Check, here is reporter Lee Gyeong-won.
[Reporter]
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education has taken the lead.
It has officially announced plans to establish a so-called Teacher Protection Bureau, and the Ministry of Education has also unveiled plans to pursue a dedicated department.
[Choi Gyo-jin / Minister of Education (on the 22nd): We will ensure that teachers' educational activities are not stifled or subjected to unfair difficulties.]
Upon verification, it was difficult to find overseas examples where an external agency, like the one in the drama, is dispatched to schools to directly punish students for infringing on teachers' rights.
However, the most similar system is France's mobile security team.
The system was established after a principal faced death threats two years ago following an argument with a student over wearing a hijab. When a serious crisis, including the infringement of teachers' rights, occurs at a school, authorities dispatch specialized personnel within a maximum of 48 hours to support the school until the situation stabilizes.
[Nicole Belloubet / Then-Minister of National Education of France (March 2024): (The mobile security team) will support schools in difficulty to manage and respond to the situation for a certain period.]
Japan operates a "School Lawyer" system.
Without budget constraints or cumbersome approval procedures, teachers can request assistance via phone or email, and legal consultation and case response begin immediately.
[Masahito Moriyama / Then-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (April 2024): The school lawyer is not just a legal advisor, but actually acts as a representative for the school board of education...]
In South Korea, teacher protection systems have been strengthened following the death of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School in 2023. However, there is ongoing criticism from the field that the complex case-handling procedures cause teachers to suffer further distress.
[Kim Min-seok / Director of Kim Min-seok Teacher Counseling Center: (In cases of complaints against teachers) most teachers suffer from mental distress for a long period of three to six months or more.]
The direction shown by overseas cases is not immediate punishment.
It is about intervening quickly so that teachers do not have to bear the burden alone, and normalizing the school environment as fast as possible.
This suggests that the core of protecting teachers' rights lies not in the intensity of punishment, but in a rapid support system that helps teachers return to the classroom without being exhausted by the process.
(Video Editing: Choi Jin-hwa, Design: Jo Su-in)
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