Ahead of the memorial week for the teacher who passed away at Seoi Elementary School, the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education announced the launch of a "Teacher Rights Protection Corps."
Gyeonggi Superintendent of Education Ahn Min-seok announced this morning (July 13) that he had approved the "Teacher Rights Protection Corps Operation Plan" as his second policy initiative since taking office. He stated that the office would launch the corps and establish a new system of "Teacher Rights Protection Officers" to shield teachers from malicious complaints.
The Teacher Rights Protection Corps is an organization directly under the Superintendent, who will serve as its head, to oversee major cases of infringement on teacher rights and policies for protecting educational activities.
Previously, concerns were raised that because tasks related to responding to teacher rights infringements, indiscriminate child abuse reports, and malicious complaints were divided among various departments, affected teachers had to navigate complex procedures on their own. The provincial office of education plans to integrate legal support and educational activity protection tasks, which were previously scattered across departments, under the Teacher Rights Protection Corps. It aims to build a response system where the education office takes full responsibility from the occurrence of an incident to its resolution and recovery.
In particular, the office will operate a "Teacher Rights Protection Officer" system—the first of its kind in the nation—to provide one-on-one support for teachers who have suffered from rights infringements, ranging from initial counseling and on-site response to legal resources.
The provincial office of education plans to recruit 50 Teacher Rights Protection Officers through an open call, targeting former and current educators and legal experts with interest and expertise in protecting teacher rights.
Marking the 3rd anniversary of the death of the Seoi Elementary School teacher, Superintendent Ahn wore a black suit and black tie as he signed the approval. He stated, "Even at this very moment, many teachers are suffering from malicious complaints."
He added, "I hope that from this moment on, no more teachers will take their own lives," and expressed his resolve by saying, "I will fix these issues within a year."
He further emphasized, "For teachers suffering from trauma, we will take special measures to carry out personnel transfers to different schools effective September 1, and we will also implement special measures to protect students who are in crisis."
In July 2023, a teacher working at Seoi Elementary School in Seoul passed away on school grounds after expressing distress over issues including complaints from parents, which served as a wake-up call regarding the protection of teacher rights.
Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Seo Byeong-uk | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.