Gyeonggi Office of Education, Controversy Over 'Work Restructuring' for Teachers and Administrative Staff

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is facing opposition from educational administrative officials as it plans to implement a "work restructuring pilot project" starting next year, which involves transferring some of the duties of the teachers' office to the school administrative office.

According to the Gyeonggi Office of Education on the 24th, the office will select 20 schools for the pilot operation of school work restructuring starting next year and operate the project for two years. The school work restructuring project involves reclassifying various administrative departments within schools into the teachers' office and the administrative office.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education identified 109 fields and 663 tasks related to school teaching and administrative work. Among these, teacher and class management tasks are handled by the teachers' office (teachers or administrative assistants), while other tasks such as civil complaints, administration, and records management are handled by the administrative office.

The problem is that recently, with the increase in new projects, related administrative tasks have surged. Many of these tasks are ambiguous as to whether they should be handled by the teachers' office or the administrative office. This is why the Gyeonggi Office of Education is conducting the work restructuring pilot project.

In fact, tasks such as air quality management, including fine dust which has become a social issue, billing and settlement of kindergarten Nuri Curriculum (free education for ages 3 to 5), and management of card terminals are representative examples that are difficult to assign clearly.

Over the past year, the Gyeonggi Office of Education collected field opinions and selected 20 administrative tasks (13 common, 4 elementary, 3 secondary) that can be handled by administrative staff even if they are not teachers, confirming them as targets for work restructuring. Starting next year, these tasks will be handled by the administrative office in 20 pilot schools, and additional personnel ranging from 1 to 3 will be supported at each school.

However, educational administrative officials are calling for the withdrawal of the project, arguing that it is a pilot project being pushed forward without proper opinion gathering.

A representative of the Gyeonggi Office of Education General Workers' Union (Gyeongilno) said, "There are over 8,600 people working in administrative offices at more than 2,400 schools in the province," adding, "On average, 2 to 3 people per school handle all administrative tasks and even work on weekends. It is unreasonable to suddenly force them to take on more work without considering this reality, especially when dozens of managers, teachers, and assistants have been doing these tasks."

The Gyeonggi Office of Education General Workers' Union has filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, claiming that excessive work transfer constitutes a human rights violation, and plans to apply for a public audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

A Gyeonggi Office of Education official explained, "We will fully collect opinions through the two-year pilot operation and check the current status of the school administrative offices' work to reduce unnecessary tasks."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Provincial Council recently recommended slowing down the pace of the work restructuring pilot project during the review and deliberation of the Gyeonggi Office of Education's 2022 budget by project.