Elementary Teachers Face Complaints, Secondary Teachers Face Assessments... "Left to Shoulder Responsibility Alone"

Response to Malicious Complaints, AI Guidelines
Teachers Concerned About Bearing Responsibility Alone

Although the Ministry of Education has been rolling out consecutive measures to protect teachers and improve evaluation systems—such as strengthening response protocols to malicious complaints and issuing guidelines for AI-assisted performance assessments—there are ongoing concerns that the structure in place still leaves individual teachers solely responsible whenever issues arise. Elementary school teachers report that they are left to handle complaints from parents on their own, while secondary school teachers say they are burdened with complaints regarding assessments and the use of AI in performance evaluations, effectively facing these challenges alone.

On the 15th, three days before the first anniversary of the death of Seo Yi-cho teacher, a citizen is seen reading a memorial message at the memorial space set up at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu. The memorial space is located next to the Health and Safety Promotion Center of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and is open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. on the 20th. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

According to the “Survey on the Operation of School Complaint Response Systems” conducted by the Elementary Teachers’ Union on April 6 among 987 elementary school teachers nationwide, only 11.1% said they had ever received support at the school level when complaints occurred. Excluding those who had no experience with complaints, 87.5% of the 881 respondents indicated they did not receive any practical support from their schools.

When complaints are received through unofficial channels, such as directly to teachers’ personal contact numbers, 34.8% responded that “it is virtually impossible to refuse or there is an expectation to respond,” 29.9% said “there are no protective measures at the school level,” and 28.8% answered “there are policies, but teachers must refuse on their own.” Based on these results, the Elementary Teachers’ Union interpreted that 93.5% of respondents are effectively handling complaints alone. The “Eardream” counseling appointment system, introduced by the Ministry of Education to reduce complaints made through teachers’ personal contacts, had a usage rate of just 0.5%, showing it has had little impact in practice.

Secondary school teachers reported that their main burden centers on “assessment.” According to the “Teacher Perception Survey on Secondary Assessment Policy” conducted on April 7 by the Secondary Teachers’ Union among 2,262 secondary school teachers nationwide, 73% of respondents said that the Ministry’s guidelines for AI-assisted performance assessment are practically impossible to implement in schools. Additionally, 94% responded that “if there is academic dishonesty or a complaint during the AI-assisted performance assessment process, individual teachers will be held responsible.” Furthermore, 75% said that the current guidelines and the support system from educational authorities do not serve as a real safeguard and that responsibility is shifted onto individual teachers when complaints arise about assessments.

Ultimately, while the nature of the issues may differ, both elementary and secondary school teachers share a common concern: that the risks arising in practice are borne by individual teachers. A representative from the Elementary Teachers’ Union stated, “The key to teacher protection is not simply to add more manuals or systems, but to ensure that teachers are not left alone on the front lines as individuals.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.