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What teachers want most for better protection of their rights
Teachers shed tears during a memorial ceremony at Seoul Seo2 Elementary School in southern Seoul, Monday, mourning a teacher who took her own life inside her classroom in July. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Education minister vows to meet with teachers every week
By Jun Ji-hye
Teachers, who have taken to the streets following the tragic suicides of colleagues, are calling for prompt amendments to laws related to child abuse crimes, saying it is the most urgent measure needed to better protect educators in the workplace.
The calls came due to the belief that a serious infringement of teachers' rights by some parents was behind the deaths of their colleagues, though police investigations into their deaths are still ongoing.
Beginning with the suicide of a young teacher at Seoul Seo2 Elementary School in southern Seoul on July 18, two more elementary school teachers and one high school teacher have ended their lives in recent days.
This has fueled the anger of teachers, prompting them to hold massive rallies in Seoul and other parts of the country, including those near the National Assembly on Saturday and Monday, which brought together about 200,000 and 120,000 participants, respectively.
A street near the National Assembly is filled with participants from a massive rally, Monday, which was held to commemorate the recent deaths of teachers and to demand proper measures to better protect their rights. Yonhap
The teachers said many of them have suffered at the hands of overly demanding parents who have exploited laws and unjustly accused teachers of child abuse, for what the teachers consider to be necessary disciplinary action against students. They said that this practice began when the child welfare law was enhanced in the 2000s and the current special law against child abuse was enforced in 2014.
The special law stipulates that anyone must make a report to the police when they become aware of or suspect child abuse.
Once a child abuse report has been filed, a teacher ― even if innocent ― faces months of being investigated by police and prosecutors.
The teachers said that such accusations have been filed indiscriminately and that there have been no proper protections for them.
In particular, they said that elementary school teachers have been victimized the most, as evidenced by the fact that 38 schools ― which did not hold classes on Monday in order to commemorate the deaths of teachers and participate in the collective action ― were all elementary schools.
The Education Ministry also believes that those who participated in the rallies were mostly elementary school teachers, though there have been no official statistics released yet.
“There have been countless cases in which teachers suffered from indiscriminate accusations regarding child abuse,” said a teacher in her 30s working at an elementary school in Seoul's Yangcheon District.
“One of my colleagues faced an accusation of child abuse for calling out loudly the name of a student with problematic behavior. The parents said the teacher humiliated their child. Another colleague faced a similar situation for grabbing the arms of a student to stop a fight with classmates.”
Referring to several measures announced by the education authorities recently, including the expansion of financial support for teachers facing lawsuits related to child abuse crimes, she said what teachers want is “not temporary measures but systematic protection.”
Amid growing controversy, the education ministry, together with the Ministry of Justice, decided to form a task force dedicated to preventing cases of false accusations concerning child abuse filed by parents against teachers.
The two ministries acknowledged that teachers' rights have been neglected while students' well-being has been emphasized excessively.
“Without solving the issue of indiscriminate child abuse accusations that have made teachers lose confidence considerably, we will not be able to right the wrongs of the public education system,” Education Minister Lee Ju-ho said, vowing to make efforts to promptly improve the existing system.
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho speaks during a meeting with teachers' unions at the Government Complex in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
During a meeting with the teachers' unions, Tuesday, Lee also said his ministry decided to withdraw its position to take stern measures against teachers taking annual leave and principals designating the day as a discretionary holiday to join Monday's collective action.
“I will meet with teachers in the field once every week to listen to their various opinions about the government's education policies,” Lee said.