Distribution of Complaint Response Guide Materials to Teachers
Advance Payment of 6.6 Million KRW per Appeal Level in Case of Disputes
The Ministry of Education will apply the newly established teacher rights protection system in the field starting this year.
On the 27th, the Ministry of Education introduced the newly changed teacher rights protection system for this year through a press release. The Ministry of Education and metropolitan and provincial offices of education announced that they have been checking the progress of teacher rights protection and preparing for the system's stabilization in the new semester since January.
First, the direct hotline for teacher rights violations, 1395, will be opened. Teachers can dial 1395 via wired or wireless phones to receive integrated guidance on reporting infringements on educational activities, psychological counseling and legal support, and teacher protection mutual aid projects.
Phone counseling will be available on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. There are a total of 13 counseling staff. The KakaoTalk messenger service will operate continuously, and a pre-reservation text service for counseling will also be provided. After a two-week pilot operation from the first day of school (March 4 to 17), it will be fully implemented.
On the 4th, a prospective new student is looking around the classroom at the 'New Student Preliminary Assembly' held at Wonmyeong Elementary School in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
Support will be provided to respond to complaints on-site by distributing the 'School Complaint Response Guide' developed with field teachers and others. In particular, starting from the new semester, the system will shift to responding to complaints through institutions (schools, education support offices) rather than individual staff members. The school's complaint response team will handle answering the school's main phone line, classifying and distributing received complaints, and responding to complaints. Complaints that are difficult to resolve at the school level will be linked to the integrated complaint team at the education support office for processing.
Shin Jin-yong, Director of the Teacher Policy Division at the Ministry of Education, explained, "Simple complaints are handled by the complaint response team, but if a teacher's individual response is required, it is classified as a cooperative complaint. When a school administrator responds from a managerial perspective, it is categorized as an administrator response complaint and handled under the responsibility of the school principal. If the school principal finds it difficult to handle, the case is transferred to a higher-level institution and processed by the integrated complaint team."
Additionally, an example booklet on the 'Superintendent's Opinion Submission' system for child abuse reports will be prepared and distributed. To protect teachers from indiscriminate child abuse reports, the Ministry of Education has been implementing a system since last year where, if a teacher is subject to investigation or inquiry regarding child abuse, the superintendent confirms the matter within seven days and provides an opinion on whether it is a legitimate educational activity such as proper guidance.
Legal and financial support will be expanded when disputes related to educational activities or child abuse reports occur involving teachers. From the early stages of disputes, experts will handle case mediation and dispute resolution, and up to 6.6 million KRW per appeal level will be advanced for civil and criminal litigation costs. For incidents arising during educational activities, up to 200 million KRW per incident will be supported for liability compensation costs, and property damage (up to 1 million KRW per incident) and psychological treatment costs (up to 2 million KRW per incident) will also be supported.
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