[Mental Health Blind Spots: Universities (9)] Jeong Geunsik: "A 'mental health safety net' must extend from elementary school through university"

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to Establish "Mind Recovery School" for High-Risk Students in March 2028
Combines Treatment and Learning, and Supports Students' Return to School
"Emotional Wounds Don't Disappear After Graduation from Primary

"The education office systematically manages education through elementary, middle and high school, but universities fall outside its jurisdiction. Yet emotional wounds accumulated during adolescence and psychological pressure stemming from studies or employment do not disappear just because someone becomes a university student. That is why we need to connect the mental health safety net between primary and secondary education and higher education."

In an interview with The Asia Business Daily on October 8, Jeong Geunsik, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "We need to strengthen the links between primary and secondary education and higher education, and expand the scope of support that education offices can provide."

Student mental health is one of the issues Superintendent Jeong has regarded as most serious since his re-election. In his book, Jeong Geunsik: The Path of a Superintendent of Education, published in January this year, he devoted considerable space to explaining student suicide and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's mental health policies. He wrote that, starting immediately after he took office, he required that every incident directly involving a student's life be reported to him, and that he "reads the incident reports meticulously without missing a single character." The book also recounts how he visited the parents of a deceased student, held their hands without being able to say anything, and then left.

Superintendent Jeong said the existing approach of "selective responses focused on individual crises" was not enough. He stressed the need for a unified system encompassing preventive education to promote the mental health of all students, early identification of at-risk students, emergency responses for students in crisis, treatment, and return to school. As part of this effort, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is working this year to establish Maeum Hoebok School, where students at high risk can receive treatment while continuing their studies.

Superintendent Jeong said, "What is more important than studying the reasons someone might die is studying the 'reasons to live.' We need to emphasize more why life is worth living and why we should not die."

"If there are about five factors in this world that could make someone want to die, there are about 50 reasons to live. That means the reasons to live are far greater. It is the role of education and society to help children find those reasons."

The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Jeong Geunsik is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily. Photo by Yoon Dongju

-Since your re-election, you have made student mental health a key priority. Maeum Hoebok School was also your first agenda item. What was the background?

▲Until now, our education system has focused only on "compulsory education," or sending students to school. But I believe we must now take another step forward and expand it into "basic education." Basic education refers to the education people need throughout their lives, from early childhood education through elementary, middle and high school, university, and lifelong learning. I consider student mental health management one pillar of this basic education, which is why I made it a top priority.

Basic education must extend beyond primary and secondary education. As society changes rapidly, for example, links between primary and secondary education and university education are becoming increasingly important even in artificial intelligence (AI) education. The same applies to mental health. Emotional difficulties experienced during elementary, middle and high school do not disappear upon graduation, but the system is currently divided, with education offices responsible for primary and secondary education and the Ministry of Education responsible for universities. Student mental health is not simply a matter of counseling or welfare programs; it is part of the basic education that public education must take responsibility for. Above all, to move beyond fragmented, reactive responses and implement policies that progress from "universal prevention" to "intensive healing," we decided to establish Maeum Hoebok School as the most intensive treatment stage of the mental health safety net.

-What will Maeum Hoebok School do?

▲Students experiencing severe depression or at risk of self-harm or suicide need a system that allows them to continue their education while receiving treatment. Maeum Hoebok School is a daytime alternative education institution that students attend in person. Students remain enrolled at their original schools and spend up to three months here receiving intensive treatment while continuing their studies. After treatment, the school will also support their transition back so they can safely return to their original classrooms. A school's Wee Class provides first-line counseling, and a local Wee Center provides second-line professional support. Maeum Hoebok School will offer more intensive treatment alongside learning. Hospitals focus on medical treatment, while Maeum Hoebok School will continue the curriculum alongside psychological treatment. The key is to build a safety net connecting prevention, early identification, counseling and treatment, recovery, and return to school. The school is planned for the former site of Deoksu High School, and preparations are underway with the goal of opening in March 2028.

-There are concerns that mental health support for students in primary and secondary education ends when they enter university.

▲The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education manages student mental health through a multilayered system of prevention, screening and support, and intensive treatment. Under the "Comprehensive Plan to Promote the Mental Health of Seoul Students," it has established a system that includes one professional counselor at each school; at least 15 sessions of social and emotional learning (SEL) for every grade from first grade of elementary school through the final year of high school; the Mind EASY test, a 24-hour call center, and an emergency response team; and matching 11 district education offices with 11 university hospitals serving as regional hubs. However, even students who have received this support fall outside the education office's oversight when they enter university. This is an unfortunate reality. At the primary and secondary levels, the state and education offices have legal and financial authority to take direct responsibility for students' health and safety under the principles of free and compulsory education. University students, on the other hand, are legally classified as adults, and the system relies on the autonomy of individual universities, creating practical limits on direct intervention by education offices or the state. But mental health crises do not stop at the boundaries between school levels. We need to strengthen the links between primary and secondary education and higher education.

Jeong Geun-sik, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily. Photo by Yoon Dongju.

-How should these links be established?

▲We should first consider creating an institutional framework that allows necessary information to be securely shared when students enter university, provided they consent. We need a structure connecting university counseling centers, local mental health agencies, and education offices. In June, the government announced 10 nationwide policies to prevent youth suicide. In response, integrated consultative bodies involving metropolitan and basic local governments and education offices are now operating. Going forward, through consultative bodies with relevant organizations such as the Seoul Suicide Prevention Center, we will discuss ways for agencies to connect and cooperate so that mental health support continues seamlessly after high school graduation, extending to university students and young adults. We will also work closely with government-affiliated and local organizations to build a mental health safety net that extends from adolescents to university students and young adults. Ultimately, I believe elementary, middle and high schools, universities, local governments, and medical institutions should work together within each region to create a unified mental health safety net.

-What roles should teachers and parents play?

▲Their roles are extremely important. Early this year, a school identified warning signs in a student and informed the parents, but the parents did not accept the information. In the end, an opportunity to act was missed, leading to a tragic outcome. Teachers are the people who continually observe children at school. If they identify warning signs and inform the parents, they should be able to respond together. Teachers and parents need to trust one another. Teachers, parents, fellow students, local communities, and the state must share a commitment to respecting life. Home and school should be the closest protective barriers safeguarding children's mental well-being.

Seoul Superintendent of Education Jung Geunsik poses for a photo. Photo by Yoon Dongju

-There are cases of emotional difficulties that began in middle or high school continuing into university. What would you like to say to these students?

▲I hope they will not compare themselves too much with others. Especially when looking at smartphones or social networking services (SNS), they may feel that everyone else is doing well and that they alone are falling behind. I hope they will reflect on how much they have grown, what they have learned, and what they have become capable of doing. As I am right now, I am a good person. And when things are hard, I hope they will ask for help instead of trying to endure it alone. Society, too, must be ready to reach out when they ask. I sincerely hope that the day will come when no more heartbreaking incident reports land on my desk.

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