Photo: BBC / Hosu Lee / Courtesy
Following weeks of protests by teachers in South Korea, the government passed a new law to further protect teachers from complaining and harassing parents.
For nine weeks, teachers have been protesting to demand greater rights to exercise their duties within the classrooms.
They claim to have been frequently harassed by parents of students who sometimes maliciously accuse them of child abuse, in order to have them removed from their positions.
The wave of protests was unleashed after the suicide of a young teacher who had been bombarded by parental complaints.
The teacher, who had been teaching for just over a year, wrote that she had felt so overwhelmed by the craziness of her job that she “wanted to let go.”
The situation of teachers has become impossible from their point of view. Several claim that they have been reported for restraining and restraining a violent child, or for simply calling out a student.
The teachers accused the parents of taking advantage of the Child Welfare Law, passed in 2014, which provides for the automatic dismissal of teachers accused of child abuse.
More research and evidence
Under the new legislation, known as the draft Law for the Restoration of the Rights of Teachers, teachers will not be dismissed as soon as child abuse is reported; More research will need to be done and more evidence taken.
Financial support will also be available for the legal defense of the teachers being sued, and greater responsibility will be placed on school principals and principals to protect their staff.
Teacher protests erupted after the July suicide of a 23-year-old primary school teacher who was overwhelmed by parents’ complaints.
The young teacher fulfilled her childhood dream of practicing the same profession as her mother and adored children, said one of her cousins who discovered the diary she had left behind.
In it she described the pressures of her job, a student who had injured another in the head with a pencil, and how she had gotten into heated phone calls and messages with parents.
The teachers stated that the culture of malicious reporting had left them unable to teach or maintain student discipline.
Chatbots and recorded calls
The South Korean Federation of Teachers’ Unions welcomed the new legislation, stating that it would both “expand the right to teach and protect students’ right to learn.”
The union expressed its “deepest gratitude” to the teachers who took to the streets for nine weeks straight, demanding better conditions, and said today’s result was due to their strength.
In recent weeks, the government and local authorities had already implemented a series of measures to protect teachers and make it easier for them to do their jobs, but none of these were legally binding.
New government directives, issued earlier this month, stipulate that Teachers have the right to remove unruly students from classrooms and restrain them if necessary.
On top of that, the Seoul Education Bureau announced plans this week to record all parent calls made to teachers and install a chatbot (a digital conversation simulator) to act as a first line of defense against parental complaints.
More changes will be necessary
However, some teachers argue that the new laws do not go far enough.
Federation of Teachers Union President Kim Yong-seo called the new legislation “a big step toward protecting teachers and students,” but noted there were areas that still needed improvement.
He called on politicians to amend the Child Welfare Act, maintaining that It should not be possible for a simple disciplinary action of students to be classified as child abuse.
Some teachers also want parents who make false accusations of child abuse to be penalized.
Kim Jin-seo, a 28-year-old teacher who spoke to the BBC during one of the protests, said the new law would not prevent unfounded allegations of child abuse, because without fear of repercussions, parents would continue to maliciously accuse teachers. that they didn’t like them.
South Korea’s hyper-competitive society is believed to be partly responsible for the culture of parental bullying.
Academic results are considered the best indicator of success, which means that Students compete fiercely to get the best grades from a very young age to guarantee entry to major universities.
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See original article on BBC