[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Se-ryeong] Students at an elementary school in Gyeongnam Province refused to attend school after being verbally abused by a teacher.
According to the Gyeongnam Office of Education on the 26th, on the 13th, while the 5th-grade homeroom teacher moved to the 1st-grade classroom for a lesson-sharing recording, Teacher A went up to the 5th-grade classroom to supervise cleaning.
While supervising the cleaning, the teacher became angry and verbally abused the students.
The students reported that Teacher A made abusive remarks such as, "Your parents hate you and are raising you as monsters," "The reason I called you dogs is because dogs are treated better than people these days," "You are worse at studying than 1st graders," "Your parents do not love you," and "Bringing your parents here would be an infringement on teachers' authority."
The school has fewer than 100 students in total, with only one 5th-grade class consisting of 12 students.
Parents, having learned the facts from their children, visited the school on the 17th to protest, and the next day, on the 18th, the offending teacher expressed willingness to apologize on a day when all students were present.
On the 21st, when two parents visited again and requested a meeting with the offending teacher, Teacher A once again unleashed abusive language in the 5th-grade classroom.
As a result, the teacher was separated from the affected children, some of whom left school early and began refusing to attend school starting from the 24th.
Police, the provincial Office of Education, and the Education Support Office, who received reports suspecting child abuse, visited the school and conducted a thorough investigation involving teachers and students.
Students who had not been attending school came to school with their parents on the 25th and heard a public apology from Teacher A. From the 26th to the 28th, they will attend school with their parents and receive psychological counseling.
The Gyeongnam Police Agency will handle the case, and the main office and Education Support Office are visiting the school to provide emergency counseling through the Wee Center.
The school stated, "We are operating a situation response team to carefully monitor the psychological state of the affected students, helping them recover from the shock and wounds through psychological treatment," and added, "We will conduct special counseling and continue to manage the situation closely."
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