Teachers' groups call for protections as assaults by students rise
Published: 09 Apr. 2026, 12:47
Updated: 09 Apr. 2026, 15:48
![Teachers mourn the death of a fellow teacher at a rally calling for better protection of teachers' rights near the central government complex in central Seoul on June 14, 2025. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/09/6d9c7527-beda-4ee3-8469-aa2cc70154f8.jpg)
Teachers mourn the death of a fellow teacher at a rally calling for better protection of teachers' rights near the central government complex in central Seoul on June 14, 2025. [YONHAP]
Teachers’ groups have called on the government and the National Assembly to come up with effective measures to protect teachers’ rights after a colleague was seriously injured by a student last month.
The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA) and the Gyeonggi branch of the organization stressed the “urgent need for fundamental measures to address the repeated violence against teachers by students” in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“At the start of the new semester, another incident in which a student violently inflicted bodily harm on a teacher has occurred again,” the two teachers’ groups said.
On March 31, a middle school teacher in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, was assaulted by a second-year student and suffered serious injuries, according to the groups. She was taken to the emergency room and required two weeks of treatment.
The case has been referred to the regional teachers' authority protection committee under the Gyeonggido Office of Education and is scheduled for deliberation on April 20.
![High school students take in a nationwide exam at a school in Busan on March 24. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/09/8875eb8b-d7db-410f-bde7-806c3957cc4f.jpg)
High school students take in a nationwide exam at a school in Busan on March 24. [YONHAP]
Cases of injury, assault and sexual violence against teachers increased from a daily average of 3.5 cases in the spring semester of 2024 to 4.1 cases per day in the spring semester last year, according to data from the National Assembly Library about the infringement of educational activities and teachers’ rights protection, which was disclosed in December last year.
KFTA President Kang Joo-ho said that a teacher who suffers injury or assault from a student is forced to continue teaching “while battling lifelong trauma.” He noted that it is “absolutely unjustifiable to treat injuries and assaults — which constitute serious crimes under criminal law — as minor issues.”
“In cases of school violence between students, disciplinary measures are logged in the student's records and reflected in college admissions, whereas in cases of assault on a teacher, even if the student is transferred or expelled, no record remains in the student's records,” Kang added, arguing that such “a serious infringement of teachers’ rights” should be documented in the records.
Lee Sang-ho, president of the Gyeonggi teachers' association branch, also stressed the need for action.
“The government and the National Assembly must not forget that restoring teachers’ authority is the fundamental prerequisite for normalizing public education, and must immediately establish strong legal measures, including measures to record serious infringements on teachers’ rights in student records," he said.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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