Push to Extend Lower-Grade School Hours to 3 PM Faces Backlash as "Child Abuse"

As the Presidential Advisory Council for Education Policy is reportedly considering extending school hours for lower-grade elementary school students, teacher organizations are pushing back, arguing that the move shifts childcare burdens onto schools.

The council is set to soon gather opinions on a plan to expand educational hours, which would extend the dismissal time for first and second graders from around 1 PM to approximately 3 PM.

The expansion of educational hours for young elementary students was previously pushed by the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy in 2018, but ultimately fell through after sparking controversy.

The Elementary School Teachers' Union pointed out today regarding the proposed extension of lower-grade dismissal times, "Whether to expand educational hours should be carefully reviewed based on classes and breaks suited to the developmental stages of young children, rather than focusing on how long to keep them confined at school."

The union also released survey results showing that a significant majority of lower-grade elementary students are negative about extending dismissal times.

On August 26 and 27, first and second-grade students nationwide were asked, "How would you feel if you had classes until the 6th or 7th period with your homeroom teacher and went home at 3 PM?"


65.5 percent of responding students answered, "It feels like we would have classes for too long, making us exhausted and worn out."

Only 3.7 percent responded, "It seems like it would be fine to study more in the classroom."

A total of 29,136 students participated in this survey, including 12,024 first graders and 17,112 second graders from 17 provincial and metropolitan regions nationwide.


Kang Seok-jo, chairperson of the Elementary School Teachers' Union, said, "First and second-grade students want to play and spend time with their families after school ends," adding, "The Presidential Advisory Council for Education Policy must heavily weigh concerns regarding the developmental characteristics of young students and student fatigue during future discussions."

The Busan Teachers' Union also issued a statement yesterday, criticizing that "keeping lower-grade elementary students tied to schools under the guise of an 'curriculum' is tantamount to state-level child abuse," and adding, "This discussion did not stem from educational necessity for student growth, but merely from administrative necessity to fill childcare gaps."

It further noted, "The fundamental solution to childcare gaps is creating an environment where parents can directly raise their children," and "Although companies and society should find common ground for this, the government is turning a blind eye to the core issue and unilaterally shifting responsibility onto schools."

Within the education community, there are also widespread concerns that extending dismissal times for first and second graders is unreasonable when school conditions, such as teacher recruitment, are not properly established.

Jang Seung-hyuk, spokesperson for the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, pointed out, "Because the 3 PM dismissal system for lower grades entails completely reorganizing the curriculum, large-scale teacher recruitment must go hand in hand," and criticized, "While the government is introducing plans to cut local education finances, it has completely failed to present a blueprint on how it will create the conditions necessary to expand regular educational hours."

Last month, as the government decided to change the local education finance allocation grant system from an automatic distribution method based on 20.79 percent of internal national taxes to a formula reflecting economic growth rates and changes in the school-age population, concerns were raised within the education community that investments in elementary, middle, and high schools could shrink.

(Photo provided by Elementary School Teachers' Union, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.