▲ Participants urge amendments to the Child Welfare Act and the Child Abuse Punishment Act at a press conference held by teacher unions including the Teachers' Union of Korea, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, and the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations at the National Assembly on July 15. (Photo: Yonhap News)
The number of cases deliberated by Teacher Rights Protection Committees regarding infringements on educational activities exceeded 4,000 last year, maintaining a level more than three times higher than five years ago.
According to the Education Policy Forum published by the Korean Educational Development Institute, the number of Teacher Rights Protection Committee meetings held for the 2025 academic year totaled 4,034.
This is approximately 3.4 times the 1,197 cases recorded in the 2020 academic year.
The number of committee meetings increased from 2,269 in the 2021 academic year and 3,035 in the 2022 academic year to 5,050 in the 2023 academic year.
Although it decreased for two consecutive years to 4,234 in the 2024 academic year and 4,034 last year, it still remained more than three times higher than the 2020 academic year.
Looking at the 2024 academic year, for which detailed status was released, infringements on educational activities were particularly prominent in middle schools.
The number of committee deliberations in middle schools stood at 2,503, accounting for 59.1% of the total.
High schools followed with 942 cases and elementary schools with 704 cases.
The sources of infringement also showed differences across school levels.
In middle schools, infringements by students accounted for 2,350 cases and those by guardians for 153 cases, while high schools recorded 880 and 62 cases, respectively.
On the other hand, in elementary schools, infringements by guardians accounted for 211 cases out of a total of 704, representing 30.0%.
By type of infringement by students, "intentionally obstructing educational activities by refusing legitimate guidance on daily life" was the most common at 32.4%.
Insult and defamation followed at 26.0%, and physical injury and assault accounted for 13.3%.
For infringements by guardians, "repeated and unjust interference with legitimate educational activities" was the most frequent at 24.1%, followed by insult and defamation at 13.0%, obstruction of business at 9.3%, and intimidation at 6.5%.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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