▲ Gyeonggi Provincial Superintendent of Education Ahn Min-suk
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education announced that an open recruitment for non-regular officers of its Teachers' Rights Protection Task Force, established to shield teachers from malicious complaints, drew 1,823 applicants for 50 available positions.
During a press conference on the 29th, Gyeonggi Provincial Superintendent of Education Ahn Min-suk stated, "As a result of the open recruitment held from the 15th until yesterday, a total of 1,823 people applied for the 50 positions, recording an average competition rate of 36 to 1."
A breakdown of the applicants showed that current and former educators accounted for the largest share at 48.5% (884 applicants), which included 775 currently active teachers and 109 retired or retiring educators.
Professionals made up 25% (456 applicants), comprising 182 counselors, 53 lawyers, 50 police officers, 27 conflict resolution specialists, 16 metropolitan or municipal council members, 11 doctors, and 117 others.
Gyeonggi Province residents accounted for 26.5% (483 applicants).
Previously, Superintendent Ahn stated right after taking office that he would consider deploying teachers with backgrounds in the Special Warfare Command, Marine Corps, or airborne troops to school settings.
However, the provincial education office explained that while some applicants noted past service in the Marine Corps or ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) on their application forms, these were past experiences rather than current occupations and thus were not counted as a separate category.
In consideration of the applicant turnout far exceeding expectations, Superintendent Ahn stated that he plans to postpone the final announcement from the originally scheduled date of the 30th to the 10th of next month.
He added that the office is also reviewing plans to expand the number of selected protection officers to around 100 in order to actively utilize the pool of outstanding applicants.
"We will ensure that the teachers' rights protection officer system takes deep roots in our educational field, creating schools where teachers can teach without fear and students can learn with peace of mind," Superintendent Ahn said. "Furthermore, we will build achievements for the teachers' rights protection system so that we can progress into an educational community where parents trust schools."
The provincial education office launched the Teachers' Rights Protection Task Force on the 13th of this month to respond to malicious complaints and protect teachers' rights.
The non-regular officers are scheduled to participate in counseling, support, and initial response regarding malicious complaint issues arising in school settings, starting with an inauguration ceremony planned for the 20th.
Separately, the provincial education office plans to designate 10 specialized education professionals as full-time teachers' rights protection officers to deploy them to tasks.
(Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, Yonhap News)
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