On the 26th, teachers demanding legislation to revise laws related to child abuse and normalize public education covered the front of the National Assembly in black waves. Following last week, the 6th rally held on this day was also held in front of the National Assembly in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
The protesters chanted with one voice, “Teachers for education메이저놀이터, the National Assembly for law revision, until September 4th.” There was also a performance of unfurling a large banner that reads “Immediately reflect on-site demands.”
Even though the hot weather has not yet completely gone, organizers estimated 60,000 teachers participated in the rally. It is the largest number of teachers’ meetings held on Saturdays for six weeks. However, the police counted the number of participants at 20,000.
Teachers who participated in the rally demanded that the National Assembly revise child abuse-related laws and legislate to normalize public education. We urged the Office of Education to take responsibility for the murderous malicious complaints, and the Ministry of Education to listen to the voices of teachers, experts in the field, and reflect them in the revision of education policies and laws.
The deadline was suggested as the 4th of the next month, the 49th anniversary of Mr. A, a teacher at Seoi-cho, Seocho-gu, Seoul, who took his own life. Teachers have set the 4th of next month as the ‘Public Education Cessation Day’ and announced a large-scale rally to commemorate Mr. A and urge the passage of the Teacher Rights Protection Act.
Demands for the truth about the death of Mr. A continued. Referring to the fact that the parents of the recent ‘pencil case’ were revealed to be police and prosecutors, they argued, “After the police parents indirectly revealed their identities, the teacher must have felt pressured by complaints.” Then, he added, “If the teacher constantly contacted her, threatened or verbally abused her, expressing dissatisfaction with the handling of the teacher’s work, and ended her life because she could not bear it, how could this not be a crime?”
The pencil incident occurred on the 12th of last month, six days before Mr. A died, in which a student in Mr. A’s class drew another student’s forehead with a pencil. The police said they investigated the four parents who communicated with Mr. A on the phone or exchanged messages, but did not find any criminal charges.
On this day, not only incumbent teachers but also prospective teachers calling for normalization of public education participated in the rally. A student who announced that he was enrolled at Korea National University of Education said at the podium, “Students who tried to become teachers are thinking about their careers again. Does it make sense to say that public education is nothing else?”
Seong Ye-rim, president of the student council at Seoul National University of Education, also stood on the podium and said, “We will not forget various incidents and, as a person in charge of public education in the future, we will change the educational scene together.” ” he said.