What has changed since the tragic suicide?

Kim Sung-yeol
The author is an emeritus professor of education at Kyungnam University.

A teacher who began her career with high hopes left her students around this time last year. When the news broke, people expressed regret and discussed the need to protect educational activities. Starting that day, many people, including teachers, made fiercer efforts to protect educational activities. As a result, a comprehensive plan to restore teachers’ rights and strengthen their protection was prepared in August 2023.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the National Assembly, the government and provincial superintendents, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Early Childhood Education Act and the Framework Act on Education, as well as the Teachers Status Act were passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly on September 21 last year. Soon after, the Child Abuse Punishment Act was revised to lay the foundation for protecting teachers’ educational activities.

Having someone by your side when you are struggling can be a great help. Similarly, our society is taking steps to keep the promise to not let teachers face challenges alone. A teacher’s rightful guidance is not considered child abuse anymore. When a child abuse report is filed, investigative agencies are required to refer to opinions submitted by the superintendent. As 86 percent of the child abuse allegations against teachers are not indicted, the revision of the five laws to protect teachers’ rights shields teachers from indiscriminate child abuse reports.

The rate of actions against parents interfering with educational activities also confirms this. The rate of parents who were ordered to give a written apology, pledge not to repeat such infringements, and undergo special education have doubled from 33 percent in 2022 to 79 percent recently. The number of complaints filed by education authorities against parents interfering with educational activities is also increasing. All these developments took place after the legislation allowed teachers to take action against those who violate their educational activities.

In the event of disputes over educational activities or reports of teachers’ child abuse, teachers are provided with legal and financial assistance through the teachers’ protection program. In the early stage of disputes, a specialist is assigned to deal with conflicts and assists with the legal cost of civil and criminal litigations, liability for damage and psychological treatment.

A teachers’ rights protection committee is also installed at the education office level in order to not hide or reduce educational activity violations and provide more professional reviews and actions. 99.8 percent of schools have a complaints response team so that teachers don’t have to deal with excessive complaints alone. More than 90 percent of schools have created and designated complaints counseling centers to conduct counseling in a safe environment.

Since last year, the government has been pushing for various measures. However, no matter how good the system is, it may be difficult to implement the policy objectives of the government if teachers in the field are not informed properly. Improved systems should be actively publicized, and constant communication with the educational field is necessary. Sharing good practices is more important than before.

It is a remarkable achievement that the government and the National Assembly have revised a number of laws, including the five acts protecting teachers’ rights, and improved the system over the past year. But more efforts should be made for additional revisions, including defining the concept of emotional child abuse. Teachers should not put up with the interference of educational activities alone, but actively respond and seek assistance. A teachers’ rights protection committee should meet promptly.

What has changed over the past year after all walks of life worked to protect teachers’ educational activities? In order to breathe in, one must breathe out. Now is the time to calmly look back on the new policies. It is necessary to examine whether the social consensus on protecting educational activities is well established, whether the educational community is recovering smoothly based on trust and mutual respect and whether positive signs are showing up.

We all hope for a school where students, teachers and parents are happy. We need to think together about what has changed so far and what must change in the future.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.