Is the School Violence Investigator Effective? Treatment Limits "Only 150,000 Won per Case"

Conservative Party Minimum 150,000~200,000 Won per Case Including Expenses
"Investigators Are Also Civilians... How Much Legal Authority Will Be Granted?"

The Ministry of Education has decided to deploy dedicated investigators for school violence cases starting from the new semester in March. However, there are concerns that it is difficult to expect professionalism and responsibility as some education offices have not guaranteed proper compensation and treatment for the investigators.

According to a report by Yonhap News on the 4th, 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide announced recruitment notices for dedicated school violence investigators from the end of last month to early this month.

The Ministry of Education recently announced, "We will hire about 2,700 dedicated investigators this year from retired teachers or retired police officers, and they will be responsible for investigating school violence issues."

This reflects criticism from the education sector that the increasing workload related to school violence makes it difficult for teachers to focus on classes, and that there are frequent infringements on teachers' rights, such as verbal abuse, assault by parents, and malicious complaints during the handling process.

However, concerns about the effectiveness of the dedicated investigator system still remain on the ground.

Among the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education, recruitment notices for dedicated investigators confirmed on the websites of 12 regions show that the compensation per case ranges from 150,000 to 400,000 KRW.

Seoul has set the compensation at 180,000 KRW per case, Gyeonggi and Daejeon at a minimum of 200,000 KRW, and Gangwon at a minimum of 210,000 KRW. Gyeongbuk offers a maximum of 270,000 KRW. Chungnam stated that it pays between 150,000 and 300,000 KRW per case, and Gwangju announced compensation of 150,000 KRW per case, with a maximum of 300,000 KRW depending on the complexity of the case.

Most education offices include in the announced compensation the investigation of cases, report writing, attendance fees for school violence case meetings and review committees, as well as transportation and meal expenses. Dedicated investigators investigate the facts concerning the perpetrator and victim students when school violence occurs and prepare reports. If the school cannot resolve the case internally, the investigator must also participate in the school violence case meetings and school violence countermeasure review committees at the education support office.

Considering that one dedicated investigator is expected to handle about two cases per month and that multiple victims and perpetrators are usually involved in school violence, there are concerns about the limitations in hiring personnel with sufficient expertise.