Ana Jeandry 11th Grade

Thousands of teachers in South Korea are protesting after the suicide of a teacher exposes the burdens of the country’s high-pressure education system has on teachers, parents, and students. 

Up to 200,000 teachers in South Korea are participating in a protest and 50,000 teachers gathered in the capital to commemorate the deceased teacher, whose suicide began the protests. 

The unnamed teacher taught first grade students at Seoi Elementary School in Seoul. She died on Campus on July 18th according to an announcement from the South Korea Ministry of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Two days after her death, it was announced that the teacher made “the unfortunate decision to take an extreme choice,” a common euphemism for suicide in South Korea. The Metropolitan Education Office Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, announced the police were still investigating, but acknowledged that “the reality [is] that teachers’ legitimate educational activities are not protected.”

After launching the investigation, the police discovered that the teacher had attended a meeting with two parents, and had received multiple phone calls from one parent, and had felt “uncomfortable and anxious about how the parent found their personal phone number.” Based on interviews with colleagues, investigators learned that the teacher had a “problematic” student, had difficulties running homeroom, and a heavy load of work at the start of the semester.

Government data shows that 100 public school teachers in South Korea killed themselves between January 2018 to June 2023. Many in the educational community have blamed a controversial child abuse law introduced in 2014, that renders teachers unable to discipline students out of fear of retribution. Under said law, anybody who suspects a case of child abuse can report it to the authorities without needing to provide evidence.

Teachers claim that they can be unfairly targeted by parents, even endangering their jobs. In a survey by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, more than 60% of respondents admitted they had been reported for child abuse or knew a teacher who had. One woman participating in the strike admitted that the new law does not allow teachers to properly discipline, teach, or guide students in the classroom. Many teachers in South Korea are under heavy stress, since parents can unfairly report them to the authorities for child abuse for the tamest of actions. While the Seoul Education Office Superintendent and other authorities were against the strike, they were open to negotiations to improve conditions for teachers in South Korea.

However, this protest exposes a deeper issue with the grueling South Korean education system. South Korea has the highest suicide rate among developed nations, especially among teenagers and young adults, most of whom cite education as their biggest worry. The demanding education system of South Korea expects every student to achieve the best results. Most students spend 12 – 16 hours a day studying, whether it’d be at school, in private cram schools, or at home.

 With a test-focused curriculum, students are under constant pressure to achieve the best results, instead of focusing on athletics or the arts, unlike western education systems. Most students leave school to head straight to extracurricular “cram schools” before arriving home to study on their own, almost every day. 

The stress extends to parents, who spend money on their child’s education as soon as possible. In 2022, South Koreans invested $22B on private education according to the Ministry of Education. The stress also extends from parents to teachers, who often complain to teachers just for disciplining their children. A survey by the Korean Federation of Teachers Association, only 23.8% of teachers expressed satisfaction with their jobs, the lowest it’s ever been.

The pressure of the South Korean education system also contributes towards the South Korean school violence phenomenon. Students will target a classmate to bully and harass, with many bullies taking it too far, even marking a student with a curling iron and beating another with a baseball bat, the story that inspired the Netflix drama “The Glory.” Teachers and parents, instead of helping the victims, opt to cover up the incidents to protect the records and reputation of teachers. 

Education in South Korea is one of the biggest worries, not only for students, but also for parents and teachers, all of whom are unable to escape the pressures of the demanding education system. The Korean education system needs an overhaul, and maybe, this protest is the start.

References:

• Yeung, J., Seo, Y., & Bae, G. (2023, September 5). South Korean teachers hold mass protests after suicide highlights pressures from parents. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/05/asia/south-korea-teachers-protest-suicide-intl-hnk/index.html

• D, D. (2023, July 3). Explained: The Rigorous Educational System Of South Korea. India Times. https://www.indiatimes.com/explainers/news/explained-the-rigorous-educational-system-of-south-korea-607415.html