Gwangju Teachers' Union Welcomes Retirement Preparation Training... Calls for Inclusion of Teachers

City Office of Education Proposes Expanding Civil Servant Retirement System to Teachers
Union: "We Hope This Becomes a Turning Point for Institutionalization... The Council Should Also Take Action"

There is a growing call for providing teachers who are about to retire with time to prepare for retirement before leaving the classroom.

After the Gwangju Office of Education officially proposed to the Ministry of Education that the 'retirement preparation training system'?currently applied to general public officials?should also be extended to teachers, the teachers' union welcomed the move.

On April 29, the Gwangju Teachers' Union released a statement saying, "We appreciate that the Gwangju Office of Education has made a good proposal to the Ministry of Education regarding the retirement preparation training system for teachers."

Gwangju Office of Education building.

The union explained, "Retirement preparation training, also known as merit training, is a system that allows general public officials to prepare for retirement without reporting to work for six months to one year before retirement. However, teachers are excluded from the relevant legal provisions."

The Gwangju Office of Education initially intended to make a joint proposal through the Council of Provincial and Metropolitan Superintendents of Education, but reportedly submitted the proposal independently because some offices of education did not agree. In response, the teachers' union stated, "We hope that discussions on retirement training for teachers will become more active, starting with the proposal from the Gwangju Office of Education."

The union also emphasized, "We will make every effort to ensure that this system is introduced even under the new government after the presidential election," and added, "The Council of Provincial and Metropolitan Superintendents of Education should also take an active role."

Previously, on the day before April 29, the Gwangju Office of Education officially proposed to the Ministry of Education that the retirement preparation training system for public officials be equally applied to teachers through an amendment to the Decree on the Appointment of Educational Public Officials.

The proposed amendment centers on adding a provision for retirement preparation training to the 'Decree on the Appointment of Educational Public Officials.' The Office of Education expects that, if the law is amended, it will help ensure retirement stability for teachers, support their adaptation to society, and reduce the cost of honorary retirement allowances.