Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education Reinstatement Decision
Superintendent: "Suspension Due to Indictment Causes Harm to Children"
Special education teacher who was suspended for allegedly abusing webtoon artist Ju Homin's (41) son is being reinstated. Lim Tae-hee, Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, announced this news directly through his social media (SNS).
On the 31st, Superintendent Lim Tae-hee posted on his Facebook, "We have decided to reinstate the special education teacher at an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province, who was suspended for allegedly abusing a child with developmental disabilities of a webtoon artist, effective August 1."
Superintendent Lim added, "This incident is not just an issue of an individual teacher but could shake the entire special education system of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education," and said, "From now on, the education office will respond so that teachers do not have to handle such situations alone." He also emphasized, "If suspension occurs simply because the prosecution has 'filed a formal trial' during the fact-finding stage, it will cause great harm to teachers who are dedicated to special education in the field, and significant damage to other special children and their parents." He further shared, "More than 80 petitions from parents and teachers hoping for leniency for the accused special education teacher have been submitted to the court."
Superintendent Lim stated, "Teachers are professionals, but special education teachers possess even deeper expertise," and added, "Teachers responsible for special children will feel a sense of solidarity with the accused teacher and consider this as something they themselves could experience."
Post by Lim Tae-hee, Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education [Image source=Captured from Superintendent Lim Tae-hee's Facebook]
Earlier, Ju Homin reported the special education teacher who was teaching his autistic child to the police in September last year for emotional child abuse. The special education teacher has been on suspension while undergoing trial. Ju was heavily criticized after it was revealed that he placed a recorder in his child's belongings before sending him to school and reported the teacher based on the recorded content.
In response, on the night of the 26th, Ju explained on his YouTube channel, "Due to the characteristics of a second-grade elementary school child with developmental disabilities, accurate communication was impossible, and since only children with disabilities attend the special class, there was no way to receive information about the situation, but confirmation was necessary." He continued, "The recording contained situations that were hard to view as simple discipline. The special education teacher made very inappropriate remarks and actions toward our child, which I believe clearly had problematic implications." He added, "We tried to resolve the issue at the school level, but in cases of emotional child abuse, we were told that teacher replacement is possible depending on the judicial investigation results, so I reported it." He concluded, "Please wait for the trial results to determine whether the teacher's actions were legitimate discipline or abuse of a child with developmental disabilities."
Despite Ju's explanation, controversy continued with testimonies from fellow teachers stating "There were many problems with Ju Homin's son's behavior" and petitions from parents saying "Special education teachers are excellent people like Teacher Sullivan." The special education teacher is scheduled for the third trial at the end of August.
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