Concerns Over Hasty Legislation as 'Haneul-i Act' Faces Backlash

Education Committee Holds Inquiry on Daejeon Elementary Student Death
Over 12 Related Bills Proposed Within Two Days of Incident
Mandatory Mental Health Evaluations for School Staff, Police Officers in Schools
Teachers' Unions Issue Statements Opposing Measures: "Stigmatization"

The ruling and opposition parties are busy preparing the ‘Haneul-i Act,’ named after the late Kim Ha-neul, a girl who passed away at an elementary school in Daejeon, but there are ongoing controversies over rushed legislation. The government and the ruling party are in favor of hastening the enactment of the Haneul-i Act to promptly separate teachers with mental illnesses. On the other hand, teacher organizations are concerned that this may discourage teachers from seeking treatment for mental illnesses.

According to an analysis by Asia Economy on the 18th through the National Assembly’s legislative information system, 12 bills related to the Haneul-i Act were consecutively proposed and submitted to the relevant standing committees from the 12th to the 18th, just two days after the incident occurred on the 10th of this month.

The bills can be summarized as including mental health assessments from the teacher appointment stage, mandatory mental health evaluations for school staff, and the deployment of police officers in schools. The education sector opposes the premature introduction of these bills, warning that mental health evaluations of staff could potentially stigmatize the entire teaching community as potential criminals. There is concern that teachers suffering from mental illnesses might hide their conditions or avoid early treatment and counseling due to fears of dismissal, thereby increasing blind spots.

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (JeonGyoJo) argued, "There is a high possibility of abuse of managerial authority to impose leave of absence based on subjective judgments about teachers experiencing mental health issues." They also expressed concerns that in cases of conflicts between parents and teachers due to complaints, parents might demand the dismissal or removal of teachers solely based on their health status. The Elementary School Teachers’ Union stated, "Strengthening authority to impose leave of absence and dismissal without addressing the broad definitional issues of mental illness and practical measures to protect teachers’ mental health is worrisome."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly’s Education Committee summoned Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho and officials from the Daejeon Office of Education on the same day to conduct a current affairs inquiry related to the murder case. According to the Education Committee, five bills related to the Haneul-i Act were submitted for consideration on that day under the ‘Partial Amendment to the Education Officials Act’ (proposed by Go Dong-jin, Park Deok-heum, Kim Ki-hyun of the People Power Party, Ko Min-jung of the Democratic Party, and Kang Kyung-sook of the Innovation Party), and the remaining bills are scheduled to be presented at the Education Committee’s plenary session on the 26th.