A parent confronts a teacher. [From Netflix drama series "Teach You a Lesson"]
A parent confronts a teacher. [From Netflix drama series "Teach You a Lesson"]

Teachers who took to the streets demanding the restoration of educators' rights following the 2023 death of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School in Seoul are rallying again at Gwanghwamun. They are calling for an amendment to the current Child Welfare Act, which they say exposes even legitimate classroom discipline to child-abuse complaints, and for meaningful legal protection of teachers' right to educate.

According to education circles Tuesday, the National Teachers' Association will hold a "Rally Strongly Urging Amendment of the Child Welfare Act" on Friday at 2 p.m. on a boulevard near Government Complex Seoul. Teachers from kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the country, as well as citizens, are expected to attend, with the Elementary School Teachers' Union co-organizing the event. Organizers anticipate more than 5,000 participants.

The rally's subtitle is "On Constitution Day, We Ask Again About the Right to Education Guaranteed by the Constitution." The organizers say the emotional-abuse provisions of the current Child Welfare Act and the child-abuse reporting system must be revised to protect teachers' right to educate and students' right to learn.

Teachers argue that the criteria for determining emotional abuse are overly broad and vague, leaving normal educational activities — including disciplining students, issuing cautions and mediating conflicts — vulnerable to child-abuse complaints. They say that even the mere filing of a complaint exposes teachers to prolonged investigations, chilling classroom management and ultimately infringing on the learning rights of the broader student body.

"Violations of teachers' rights and indiscriminate child-abuse complaints continue, yet the systems that should protect teachers are not functioning properly in the field," the organizers said. "We can no longer maintain a structure that leaves individual teachers to bear the burden of complaints and reports on their own."

The National Teachers' Association will hold a rally urging amendment of the Child Welfare Act on Friday at 2 p.m. on a boulevard near Government Complex Seoul. [Provided by the National Teachers' Association]
The National Teachers' Association will hold a rally urging amendment of the Child Welfare Act on Friday at 2 p.m. on a boulevard near Government Complex Seoul. [Provided by the National Teachers' Association]

At the rally, the National Teachers' Association plans to demand the immediate revision of the Child Welfare Act, guaranteed protection of teachers' right to educate, stronger penalties for malicious complaints and accusations, legal safeguards to limit indiscriminate child-abuse reports, and action from the Ministry of Education to normalize conditions in schools. The program will also include presentations by classroom teachers on rights violations, video screenings, performances and a reading of a statement calling for amendment of the Child Welfare Act.

Teachers have particularly highlighted the need for real sanctions against guardians who file repeated child-abuse complaints or use the reporting system as a tool to resolve personal grievances. They are also calling for objective criteria that distinguish genuine abuse from legitimate educational activity, and for procedural reforms requiring that complaints related to teaching be reviewed by a specialist body — such as a district education office — before any criminal investigation begins.

"As long as indiscriminate complaints that treat teachers as criminals continue, teachers will find it difficult to actively guide their students," a rally official said. "We need a system that reasonably distinguishes between child protection and legitimate educational activity, so that teachers can teach safely and students can learn in a stable environment."


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