Prohibition of Direct Complaint Calls to Classrooms and Protection of Personal Contact Information
The Jeonnam Office of Education announced on May 26 that it deeply mourns the recent death of a teacher at a middle school in the Jeju region and will substantially strengthen its response system to address teacher stress and infringements on educational activities.
The Office explained that, following the 'Seoi Elementary School teacher death incident' that shocked the nation two years ago, it has implemented a range of policies to protect teachers. These include the operation of school complaint response teams, expanded psychological and healing support for teachers, and the establishment of special complaint response teams at local education offices.
However, the Office has determined that more thorough inspections and the substantial operation of these systems are needed for such measures to be effective at the field level. Therefore, it plans to focus on establishing a response system that ensures teachers do not have to handle complaints alone.
Jeonnam Superintendent of Education Kim Daejung posted a message mourning the news of a Jeju teacher on his Facebook page on the 24th. Provided by Jeonnam Office of Education
To this end, the Office will prohibit direct connection of complaint calls to classrooms, protect teachers’ personal contact information, and mandate the operation of complaint response teams composed of principals, vice principals, and administrative directors. It will also re-examine whether the system requiring principals to directly handle complaints that may infringe on educational activities is being properly implemented at schools. In particular, the Office will strengthen publicity for the 'psychological support for teachers suffering from job-related stress' program, which has been expanded this year, to help teachers experiencing psychological difficulties return to the classroom quickly and stably.
Additionally, the Office stated that it will strengthen the roles of both local and provincial education offices to closely monitor the operation of special complaint response teams, and will consider legal action if necessary. Furthermore, on June 25 and 26, it will hold a 'workshop and consulting session for the protection of educational activities' for school principals in the western and eastern regions of the province, aiming to enhance the capabilities of complaint response teams.
Kim Hobum, Director of Student Life Education, said, "We will thoroughly examine whether the measures to protect educational activities are having a real effect in the field," and added, "We will do our best to create an environment where teachers can focus on teaching and to help those suffering from complaints recover their daily lives."
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