Do Seong-hoon, Incheon Education Superintendent, "We Must Prevent Students from Transferring or Dropping Out to Evade Punishment"

Do Seong-hoon, the Incheon Metropolitan City Education Superintendent, has urged the establishment of a legal basis to prevent students who violate educational activities from choosing to transfer or drop out, a tactic known as 'evading punishment'.

During the 106th General Assembly of the Korea Education Superintendent Council held on the 29th, the Superintendent strongly proposed the necessity of amending the Special Act on the Improvement of Teacher Status and Protection of Educational Activities aimed at preventing students who violate educational activities from evading punishment.

The currently enforced Teacher Status Act stipulates various measures against students who infringe upon educational activities. However, there is no clear legal basis to forcibly restrict or suspend applications for transfers or dropouts by offending students who seek to evade punishment during the deliberation and procedures of the local Teacher Protection Committee.

The Superintendent sharply pointed out on that day, "Due to the current legal gap, cases of offending students transferring schools before disciplinary decisions are becoming frequent, which not only undermines the effectiveness of the committee's decisions but also causes distrust in the system and greater psychological distress for the affected teachers."

He further stated, "This demand for legal amendment is an issue that must be passed to foster students as proper members of society and to create schools as spaces of mutual respect and consideration," expressing a strong commitment to push for the amendment of the law.

Meanwhile, at this general assembly, in addition to the Superintendent's proposal, major issues in the education sector were discussed, including ▲amendments to laws for the application of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act for Public Officials to private schools ▲amendments to the Basic Academic Ability Guarantee Act related to parental cooperation and consent ▲and key issues arising from administrative integration.

The Superintendent stated, "Effectively protecting teachers from violations of educational activities is the beginning of a healthy educational community," and added, "We will continue to improve and support systems that reflect the voices from the school field."