Gyeonggi Province Superintendent An Min-seok Expresses Active Support for '100 Demands from Teachers'

On the 15th, Gyeonggi Province Superintendent An Min-seok received the ‘100 Demands from On-site Teachers for Transforming Unreasonable School Settings’ from the Gyeonggi Teachers' Labor Union (hereafter Gyeonggi Teachers' Union) at the Johwon Government Complex.

Attending the handover ceremony were Gyeonggi Teachers' Union Chair Chae Yu-gyeong, Senior Vice Chair Lee Hyun-ju, Policy Director Lee Yu-jin, Early Childhood and Special Education Division Director Kim Hyun-sook, and Elementary Education Policy Director Kim Jung-seo.

The demands were drafted as a follow-up measure from the 'Teachers' Rights Forum' held on July 23rd. The Gyeonggi Teachers' Union stated that it conducted a survey with approximately 800 on-site teachers during the vacation period and underwent issue identification by the union, narrowing down and organizing 100 practical improvement tasks to be addressed in the short and medium to long term.

The 100 demands are organized into five areas: △Protection of Educational Activities and Guarantee of Teachers' Rights △Simplification of Administrative Duties for Teachers △Improvement of Teachers' Treatment and Working Conditions △Guarantee of Teachers' Professional Development and School Democracy △Improvement of Educational Environment to Enhance Education Quality.

In particular, the union proposed measures to protect teachers' rights, including amendments to three laws on teachers' rights protection (Child Welfare Act, Child Abuse Punishment Act, Teachers' Status Act), teacher protection measures against safety accidents, and establishment of an integrated responsibility system for teacher rights protection centers. The union also proposed immediately feasible administrative task simplification measures, such as separation of duties in managing in-school devices and equipment and CCTV installation and operation, and the transfer of admission management to municipal administrative welfare centers.

At the handover ceremony, Superintendent An presented improvement directions for each area of the 100 demands. Regarding the teacher rights protection area, Superintendent An stated, “We are currently focused on restoring teachers' rights, and we expect that institutional grounds will be established when the ‘Teacher Rights Protection Center Ordinance’ passes in the Gyeonggi Province Council's Education Administration Committee in the near future.” He added, “The teacher rights protection center will serve as a strong safeguard for teachers, and we will maintain ongoing communication with the National Assembly to amend the three laws on teachers' rights protection.”

The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education plans to continue consultations with the Gyeonggi Teachers' Union to monitor and implement the 100 demands going forward, while working to create a school environment where teachers can dedicate themselves entirely to educational activities.