Ahn Min-seok Declares 'All-Out War Against Malicious Complaints': "Teachers, Just Focus on Teaching"

The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education (Superintendent Ahn Min-seok) held a launch ceremony for Teacher Rights Protection Officers on the 22nd at the Jowon Provincial Office and officially announced the nationwide first implementation of the Teacher Rights Protection Officer system.

The ceremony was attended by Superintendent Ahn Min-seok, the 300 newly selected teacher rights protection officers, citizen teacher rights protectors, honorary teacher rights protection officers, students, and parents.

The 300 teacher rights protection officers, who completed capacity-building training on the 13th and 18th, took their first steps as a strong shield protecting teachers suffering from violations of educational rights from the start to the end of each case, beginning with this launch ceremony.

Congratulatory remarks were delivered in video, written, and in-person formats from across sectors including Minister of Education Choi Kyou-jin, Chair of the National Education Commission Cha Jung-in, Chair of the National Assembly Education Committee Kim Hee-jung, members of the National Assembly, provincial and city council members, local government heads, representatives of teacher organizations, and police. Following this, Superintendent Ahn Min-seok presented activity flags to representatives of the teacher rights protection officers, citizen teacher rights protectors, and honorary teacher rights protection officers, officially announcing their launch.

Teacher rights protection officers will provide one-on-one dedicated support to educators facing difficulties due to child abuse reports, serious violations of educational activities, and malicious complaints from the initial occurrence of cases through their resolution. The officers, composed of teachers and members of the public, as well as professionals from diverse fields including lawyers, doctors, counseling experts, and police, will provide integrated support ranging from fact-checking to legal consultation, psychological counseling and recovery, and post-case management.

Superintendent Ahn Min-seok said in his remarks, "When I see the overwhelming interest and support for the teacher rights protection officers and as I participated directly in the interviews, I thought that the true heroes of this era without heroes are precisely you, the teacher rights protection officers," and stated, "I will grant you, the heroic teacher rights protection officers, all the substantial authority related to the superintendent's teacher rights protection activities."

Superintendent Ahn declared, "I hereby proclaim all-out war against malicious complaints at this venue," and emphasized, "The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education will take groundbreaking measures to relieve teachers of administrative burdens as much as possible so that teachers can dedicate themselves solely to classes and focus entirely on teaching."

Finally, Superintendent Ahn concluded, "I deeply appreciate your joint commitment and firm support for teacher rights protection," adding, "Teachers, please focus only on teaching. We will protect you."