Gov’t to promote statutory amendment for teachers

In the wake of a recent tragic incident involving an elementary school teacher, the ruling party has proposed expediting statutory amendments that would grant teachers an exemption from child abuse charges for engaging in legitimate disciplinary actions.

On Wednesday, the ruling People Power Party and the Education Ministry conducted a policy consultation meeting at the National Assembly to address the protection of teachers’ rights. Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said that they would expedite the legislative process to pass an amendment that would grant teachers an exemption to child abuse charges when they engage in reasonable disciplinary actions, mandate the competent education office and the school principal to submit an opinion when a teacher is being investigated on charges of child abuse, and ensure that any acts that may be considered as infringing on teachers’ rights be recorded on the student records.

Many teachers have expressed their fear of being falsely accused of child abuse, leading to hesitancy in conducting reasonable educational activities. A survey conducted in January by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations found that out of 5,520 respondents, 47.5 percent either reported being accused of child abuse themselves or witnessed their colleagues facing such allegations.

There are two amendment bills concerning the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, introduced by People Power Party lawmaker Lee Tae-gyu and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kang Deuk-gu, respectively. The primary objective of both bills is to ensure that a teacher’s reasonable disciplinary actions, conducted in accordance with existing laws and school regulations, are not wrongly deemed as child abuse.


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