9 out of 10 Teachers Oppose Periodic Mental Health Screening

Survey of 8,160 Federation of Teachers' Union Members
"Haneul Act Should Not Focus Solely on Mental Illness"

According to a survey conducted by the Federation of Teachers' Unions targeting 8,160 union members, about 88% expressed opposition to the idea of conducting regular mental health screenings for teachers.

The Federation of Teachers' Unions announced the results on the 20th of an urgent online survey conducted on the 17th and 18th among 8,160 union members who are teachers at nationwide kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools regarding the late elementary student Kim Haneul (7) from Daejeon. The results showed that 87.9% of respondents opposed the opinion that "mental health screenings should be conducted regularly for all teachers." Additionally, 78.8% selected "strongly disagree."

Most respondents believed that the so-called "Haneul Act," which is being promoted in response to the elementary student murder case, should not focus solely on teachers with mental illnesses. 90.7% of respondents answered that the focus of the Haneul Act should be on "school members showing severe violent warning signs," not on teachers with mental illnesses. Furthermore, 97.1% said that enacting a law focused only on mental illness would make it difficult to reveal psychological difficulties arising during educational activities, potentially worsening the problem. Since accurate diagnosis of mental illness requires patients to honestly report their symptoms, there is a high possibility that teachers would not honestly express their symptoms if mental health screenings are conducted following this incident.

58.5% of teachers opposed the measure requiring school principals to immediately report to the superintendent if a teacher experiences a serious physical or mental illness that hinders student protection and education. This opposition stems from concerns about abuse of authority by principals and infringement on teachers' rights. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of 98.3% opposed the measure allowing students or parents to participate as members of the Teacher Job Suitability Committee (formerly the Committee on Teachers with Illnesses), which is being legislated directly under the superintendent.

When asked about the fundamental cause of this incident (multiple responses allowed), the most frequently cited reason was "the system's inability to urgently separate school members showing violent warning signs" (66.8%). This was followed by "lack of safety guidelines for care classrooms such as face-to-face handover with guardians" (33.0%), "insufficient identification and management of high-risk mentally ill teachers" (14.8%), and "lack of security facilities and personnel such as CCTV and management staff" (14.0%).

Regarding measures to prevent recurrence (multiple responses allowed), the most common opinion, at 58.0%, was that "the education authorities should review and take authority to separate school members showing violent warning signs and refer them for medical treatment."

On the 18th, the Ministry of Education decided to establish policies distinguishing between "high-risk teachers" who pose harm to others and "teachers with general psychological difficulties" in relation to the so-called "Haneul Act (Amendment to the Education Officials Act)." The Haneul Act includes measures to urgently separate high-risk teachers, defined as those who pose harm to colleagues or others, while teachers with general psychological difficulties will receive counseling and treatment under a "two-track support" system. Additionally, legal grounds will be established to allow urgent separation of students and high-risk teachers in emergency situations and to dispatch emergency response teams from the relevant education office. Therefore, the Haneul Act is expected to include provisions to urgently separate teachers who are significantly unable to perform their duties in the educational field and to take measures such as involuntary leave through the Teacher Job Suitability Committee. Previously, the Committee on Teachers with Illnesses reviewed sick leave, but rules varied by metropolitan and provincial education offices. Going forward, the Teacher Job Suitability Committee will take over this role, reviewing not only sick leave but also reinstatement.

To support the mental health of all teachers, customized psychological testing tools for teachers will be distributed in the first half of this year to enable self-diagnosis, and psychological counseling and treatment will be supported through 32 Education Activity Protection Centers nationwide and affiliated institutions. Alongside this, through amendments to the Teacher Status Act, superintendents will be required to implement teacher mental health promotion projects and establish cooperative systems with medical institutions. During teacher training stages, teacher aptitude and personality tests will be strengthened to require passing qualifications at least twice.