Jeonnam Health Teachers VS Administrative Staff, Sharp Conflicts Over Student Health Management

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education Health Teachers' 'Core Duties' Amendment Submitted to Superintendents' Council

Union Protests "Trying to Shift Even Basic Tasks" ... Agenda Urgently Withdrawn

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] In frontline schools in Jeonnam, health teachers and administrative (general) public officials are engaged in intense conflicts over who should take charge of the school's health duties.

According to the Jeonnam Office of Education Union on the 10th, the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education submitted the "Proposal for Amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the School Health Act Related to Health Teachers' Duties" as an agenda item to the Practical Council of the National Association of Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education, but it was urgently withdrawn yesterday following protests from the union.

The amendment proposed by the Jeonnam Office of Education includes deleting from the health teachers' duties tasks such as school environmental hygiene work, health guidance for physically weak students, home visits for health guidance, collection and management of health education materials, and management of student health records.

The amendment was distributed to 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide after being submitted to the National Association of Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education.

After the amendment was distributed nationwide, 17 metropolitan and provincial education office unions, including the Seoul Metropolitan General Public Officials Labor Union and the Chungcheongnam-do Office of Education Public Officials Labor Union, prepared protest statements against the Jeonnam Office of Education. The Jeonnam Education Office Union only belatedly learned about the submission of the agenda, which led to the conflict.

The Office of Education had been operating a "School Environmental Hygiene Conflict Task Force (TF) Team" until mid-last month to resolve conflicts related to health duties between health teachers and administrative public officials, which is analyzed to have caused greater conflict.

The problem is that the agenda was submitted without the knowledge of the administrative officials who participated in the TF, leading to dissatisfied voices from the administrative staff.

A representative of the Jeonnam Office of Education Union stated, "This agenda is identical to the amendment proposal of the Enforcement Decree of the School Health Act that was initiated in 2014 but was discarded amid public controversy," and added, "It has been confirmed that not only Superintendent Jang Seok-woong but even the secretariat were unaware that this agenda was submitted to the National Association of Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education."

He continued, "Health teachers only teach 15 hours a year and are trying to shift even their basic duties onto administrative public officials," and added, "Student health management duties are the exclusive duties of health teachers as specified in the Enforcement Decree of the School Health Act. It is difficult to understand the submission of an agenda that abandons students' health rights."

On the other hand, the president of the Jeonnam Health Teachers Association said, "Superintendent Jang Seok-woong's pledge included strengthening student health education and establishing a system through organizational restructuring," and added, "Although health teachers' duties are excessive, they are listed as 'exclusive duties' in the law, so we requested the Office of Education to propose the agenda, but it is heartbreaking that the agenda was withdrawn."

An official from the Office of Education stated, "It is customary to report to the superintendent when submitting an agenda, but detailed content may be omitted from the report," and added, "Since this is a sensitive issue, we cannot disclose detailed information, but on the 8th, we officially sent a document stating that we accepted the union's protest and withdrew the agenda."