Gyeonggi education chief files criminal complaint against parent who sued teacher over student dispute

Gyeonggi Province education superintendent Ahn Min-seok has filed a criminal complaint against a parent who sued a teacher for child abuse after the teacher intervened in a dispute between students — the first case taken up by the provincial office's newly formed teachers' rights protection unit.

At a press conference Monday at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education in Suwon, Ahn said he personally visited the Bucheon Ojeong Police Station that day to submit a criminal complaint filed under his name. "This concerns a serious infringement of educational activities that occurred at Ojeong Elementary School," he said.

According to the provincial office of education, a teacher at the school received a complaint from a parent after stepping in to mediate a dispute between students.

The parent also staged a protest with a picket sign in front of the school.

Although the school's teachers' rights protection committee recognized the parent's conduct as an infringement of educational activities, the teacher was hit with a criminal complaint for alleged child abuse and a civil lawsuit filed by the parent.

Ahn established the provincial office's teachers' rights protection unit and took personal charge as its head, designating the case as No. 1 and meeting with school officials and the affected teacher to review a response.

"The parent offered to apologize to the teacher and withdraw the lawsuit, but after careful consideration and in light of the positions of the teacher and the school, we decided to proceed with the complaint," Ahn said Monday. "This filing reflects my resolve as superintendent that I will not tolerate conduct that destabilizes schools and intimidates teachers."

He added that he could no longer stand by while legitimate teaching activities crumbled under malicious complaints and threats, or while teachers' dedication was met with reports and lawsuits. "We will respond strictly and by the book to any conduct that seriously violates the safety and dignity of educators," he said.

Separately, the provincial office of education announced Monday that it had completed the final selection of 300 dedicated teachers' rights protection officers.

The 300 officers include 160 outside professionals — among them lawyers, doctors, police officers, conflict-mediation specialists, counselors, a former National Human Rights Commission investigator and an international behavioral analysis expert — as well as 110 educators and 30 Gyeonggi Province residents.

The officers will provide one-on-one support to teachers facing difficulties — including child-abuse reports, serious infringements of educational activities and malicious complaints — from the initial stage of an incident through its resolution.

The provincial office plans to hold capacity-building training sessions for the officers on Thursday and Aug. 18, followed by a launch ceremony on Aug. 22, after which the unit will begin full operations.

The office also plans to appoint about 1,400 applicants from the recruitment pool who expressed interest as "civic teachers' rights protection officers."