[Anchor]
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is officially launching a "Teachers' Rights Protection Unit" this week. Similar to the teachers' rights protection bureau featured in the drama "True Education," the provincial office has also taken a proactive stance by filing criminal complaints against parents who infringe upon teachers' rights.
Reporter Choi Ho-won has the details.
[Reporter]
Gyeonggi Provincial Superintendent of Education Ahn Min-seok arrives at a police station in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, holding a complaint.
The superintendent is directly filing a criminal complaint for intimidation and violation of the Protection of Communications Secrets Act against a parent who filed malicious complaints with an elementary school and accused the homeroom teachers of child abuse.
[Ahn Min-seok / Superintendent of Education, Gyeonggi Province : We want to demonstrate through action our commitment to becoming the most reliable protector of teachers and holding ourselves accountable to the end in responding to infringements on educational activities.]
Superintendent Ahn explained, "Although the parent offered to apologize to the teacher and withdraw the lawsuit, I decided to file a criminal complaint to show that acts of destabilizing schools and threatening teachers will not be tolerated."
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education has also selected 300 non-regular teachers' rights protection officers.
The group includes 110 teachers along with 160 experts, such as lawyers, doctors, and police officers.
[Hyun Ji-hoon / Teachers' Rights Protection Officer (Lawyer) : I think our primary role will be to systematically organize the accounts of damage provided by teachers into legal documents and submit them.]
After completing capacity-building training through today (August 18), they will hold an inauguration ceremony on August 22 and visit sites where reports of teachers' rights violations have been filed to provide one-on-one support to affected teachers.
[Chae Yu-kyung / Chairperson, Gyeonggi Teachers' Union : This is not just a guarantee of rights for teachers, but a fundamental condition for rebuilding collapsed public education. We will do our utmost to create schools where students can enjoy their school life.]
Currently, teachers' rights protection committees are operating at the provincial and district office of education levels across the country.
Based on the second semester of 2025, a total of 166 cases of teachers' rights violations were ruled nationwide, but 34 cases failed to implement measures such as pledges to prevent recurrence, special education, or counseling and treatment. Among these, only a single case resulted in a fine.
(Video editing: Jang Woon-seok, Footage courtesy of: Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education)
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