It was found that the Teacher Rights Protection Committee (교보위), which judges whether there has been any infringement of teacher rights, held 4,232 sessions last year. Among these, 12.2% (518 cases) were convened due to teachers being harmed or assaulted by students or guardians.
The Ministry of Education, along with 17 city and provincial education agencies and the Korea Educational Development Institute, announced the results of the '2024 education activity infringement survey' on the 13th.
This survey was conducted to create a social consensus regarding the protection of educational activities by teachers. It has been conducted twice a year since the 2020 academic year. The survey results include ▲ number of 교보위 sessions ▲ status of educational activity infringements ▲ measures against infringing students and guardians.
First, the 교보위 held 4,232 sessions last year. The 교보위 is an organization that deliberates on whether there have been infringements on educational activities and the measures against infringing students and guardians. Beginning with 1,197 sessions in 2020, there were 2,269 in 2021, 3,035 in 2022, and 5,050 in 2023. In this regard, the Ministry of Education stated, "Although there has been a slight decrease compared to 2023, when a significant issue arose, the trend is still increasing."
Looking at the status of educational activity infringements by school level, middle schools had the highest number of cases at 2,503. This was followed by high schools (942 cases), elementary schools (704 cases), special schools (55 cases), kindergartens (23 cases), and other school levels (7 cases).
The types of educational activity infringements included 'intentional disruption of educational activities by refusing reasonable guidance' (29.3%) and 'insult and defamation' (24.6%), accounting for over half. The remainder included 'harm or assault' (12.2%), 'sexual humiliation or disgust' (7.7%), 'sexual violence crime' (3.7%), 'repeated unjust interference in legitimate educational activities' (3.4%), and 'unauthorized video editing and distribution' (2.9%).
The most common infringement by students was intentional disruption of educational activities (32.4%), while infringements by guardians were largely repeated and unjust interference (24.4%).
Major cases of educational activity infringement involve students using derogatory or insulting language against teachers during classes or while supervising student activities. There have also been instances of assaults or unauthorized leaving of classrooms. Recently, it has been reported that students have engaged in illegal filming of teachers and creating false videos (deepfakes).
Students judged to have infringed educational activities most commonly faced 'suspension' (27.7%). This was followed by 'school service' (23.4%), 'community service' (19.0%), 'transfer' (8.7%), 'class change' (6.7%), and 'special education or psychological treatment' (4.1%). Additionally, measures against guardians were predominantly 'apologies and pledges to prevent recurrence' (37.1%) and 'special education' (23.9%).
Acting President Lee Joo-ho, who also serves as the Minister of Education, noted, "Based on the results of this survey, we will continue to monitor the implementation of policies to protect educational activities to ensure they are felt on the ground, and we will also expand support for teachers' mental health related to job stress and establish a complaint handling system in schools."