The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education has seen a significant increase in consultations through the hotline (1600-8787) established to protect teachers' rights and educational activities.
The Office of Education announced on the 19th that from the 1st to the 14th of this month, there were 577 consultation requests related to the protection of teachers' rights through the hotline, which is more than 1.7 times the 345 cases recorded in the two weeks prior to the hotline's launch.
By school level, middle schools accounted for the highest number of consultations with 224 cases, followed by ▲elementary schools with 201 cases ▲high schools with 113 cases ▲kindergartens with 11 cases ▲special schools with 7 cases ▲and others with 57 cases.
Regarding the content of consultations, administrative inquiries were the most common with 319 cases, followed by psychological counseling with 209 cases, and legal support with 49 cases.
The main consultation topics included support from the SOS! Gyeonggi Education Legal Support Group, requests for accompaniment by affiliated lawyers during investigations and inquiries into child abuse, psychological counseling related to parental complaints, psychological counseling related to student guidance, student separation education, procedures of the Teachers' Rights Protection Committee, and support for teachers affected by infringements on educational activities.
There have also been cases where legal support was provided to teachers reported for child abuse through the hotline. Legal support and counseling were given in cases involving investigations of school violence against elementary students and legitimate disciplinary actions taken against middle school students that resulted in child abuse reports.
Seo Eun-kyung, Director of the Life and Character Education Division at the Office of Education, stated, "Teachers can now easily access regional Teachers' Rights Protection Support Centers through the hotline's main number," adding, "We will actively strive to protect teachers' rights and educational activities."
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