Teachers hold a rally in front of the National Assembly on Sept. 4, 2023, mourning the death of a distressed young teacher and calling for enhanced teachers’ rights. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — An estimated 120,000 school teachers held large-scale rallies across the country Monday to mourn the recent suicide deaths of fellow teachers distressed by disgruntled parents and unruly students and to call for measures to prevent such tragedies.
Following the apparent suicide of a young public school teacher in July, school teachers have demanded the protection of their rights in the classroom, citing possible harassment by parents and students.
The largest rally took place in front of the National Assembly building in western Seoul, with organizers estimating 50,000 teachers in attendance. Police, however, put the number at 25,000.
Similar rallies occurred outside of Seoul, bringing together an estimated 70,000 teachers on the streets. Police estimated the number at 14,000.
Originally planned as a mourning event for the teacher, who reportedly was distressed over parents’ complaints regarding a violent dispute among students, the rally evolved into a widespread demonstration for teachers’ rights and well-being.
Two additional teacher suicides happened last week, one in Seoul on Thursday and the other in the southwestern city of Gunsan on Friday.
Many teachers have filed for a one-day leave of absence to attend the rallies, and some 30 elementary schools across the nation have even designated Monday a temporary holiday as too many teachers wanted to take the day off for the collective action, called “Public Education Stoppage Day.”
A teacher at an elementary school in western Seoul said only 14 of the school’s 48 teachers came to work, with the rest taking the day off apparently to attend the rally. Situations at other elementary schools were believed to be similar.
Teachers in provincial regions also planned to hold rallies in front of regional education offices.
“Participating teachers plan to call for the truth behind the young teacher’s death to be found and an immediate revision to the child abuse crimes act in front of the National Assembly,” a person in charge of organizing the rally said.
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho (2nd from R) and Cho Hee-yeon (R), superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, pay silent tribute to a late female teacher in a classroom at Seo2 Elementary School in Seoul on Sept. 4, 2023, the 49th day after her death. (Yonhap)
Teachers believe the act can hold teachers accountable for child abuse for what they consider to be necessary disciplinary action against students. The act, they said, exposes many teachers to abusive behaviors by students and parents.
A temporary commemoration place operated through the day in the schoolyard of the Seo2 Elementary School in southern Seoul, where the young teacher taught, while the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education hosted a commemoration ceremony at the school’s auditorium in the afternoon, with Seoul education superintendent Cho Hee-yeon and the chiefs of three major teachers’ unions in attendance.
Dressed in black, teachers and other participant began arriving at the road facing the National Assembly hours before the rally kicked off, some of them holding the hands of their young children.
“It could be a matter of time before we run out of luck, or just meet the wrong parent, and I think that’s what’s bringing in more teachers nationwide to join the rally,” said Kim, a teacher for students with disabilities in Seoul’s Dongjak district for 12 years.
Another teacher, who gave only her surname Lee and is from Goyang in Gyeonggi Province, said she was angered by “unrealistic and superficial” measures set out by the education ministry last month, and denounced the ministry’s move asking teachers to refrain from collective action Monday.
“Taking a leave of absence or sick leave is the right of teachers as workers, but the education ministry’s threat to penalize us for exercising our rights makes us, teachers, feel hopeless about whom we can trust in the face of these challenges,” said Lee.
Han Su-min, 45, who joined the Monday rally with her 8-year-old son, said she came to give teachers her support. She said teachers’ rights should be balanced, and not sacrificed, against children’s rights.
Mourning flowers line the wall of a place honoring a dead teacher in the southern city of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on Sept. 4, 2023. (Yonhap)
Participants stood in long lines to lay carnations on the stage set up for the rally in honor of the 49th day since the death of the Seo2 Elementary School teacher.
In Buddhism, the 49th day after death is when the soul of the deceased heads off to the afterlife. In South Korea, the 49th-day ceremony is one of the most important postmortem rituals for the dead.
“The 1,000 stems of carnations represent what the deceased teacher should have received during her time teaching,” explained a teacher on stage.
On Saturday, around 200,000 teachers from around the country gathered in Seoul’s Yeouido near the National Assembly to commemorate the recent deaths of teachers and to call for the better protection of their rights.
It is very rare for teachers to stage such a large rally on their own without the involvement of labor unions.
The Education Ministry maintains that any teacher taking a leave of absence to join the collective action will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law and principles.
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho on Sunday asked for teachers to refrain from taking a leave of absence to attend the planned mass rally while pledging to take measures to enhance their rights and authority in the classroom.
Under the current labor law, teachers don’t have the right to collective action, and the ministry has warned that taking a leave of absence by teachers en masse is tantamount to an indirect walkout.
The education ministry said no major class disruptions have been reported, but about 1,500 elementary teachers were estimated to have taken the day off in Busan, which has a population of some 9,400 elementary school teachers.
In South Gyeongsang Province, about 10 percent of its 12,400 elementary school teachers did not report to work.
An elementary school in Seoul belatedly decided to cut down the school hours for the day, saying, “Difficulties arose in the stable running of the education curriculum as most of our teachers went on sick leave.”
The school told students and parents that all students should return home after lunch.
(Yonhap)
