The presidential office on the 29th said that President Lee Jae-myung's remarks criticizing the trend of shunning "school trips and field days" "are more in line with the point that teachers should instead be strongly protected from safety accidents that occur during field learning, and that teachers' core duties should be better guaranteed from the many excessive tasks they carry."
Kang Yu-jung, the presidential office Spokesperson, said at a presidential office briefing that afternoon, "Specific legal revisions or details will be prepared after gathering opinions from the field, conducting legal reviews, and discussing with the National Assembly," adding, "At the same time, we are reviewing ways for teachers, rather than facing those issues personally during lawsuits, to seek help without difficulty for legal responses and compensation."
Earlier, on the previous day at a Cabinet meeting, the president mentioned schools that have not been going on picnics or school trips recently due to safety concerns and said, "If it's a safety issue, provide support for the expense to reinforce safety personnel; if the burden on teachers' classes or management arises, hire additional staff and take them along," adding, "It is taking away a good opportunity from students to avoid taking responsibility."
He also said, "When I was in fifth grade, going on a school trip to Gyeongju remained a lifelong memory for me, and I learned a great deal through that process," adding, "You should not get rid of the crock jar because you worry that 'maggots' might appear." He asked Minister Choi Kyo-jin of the Ministry of Education to "pay special attention."
Teachers' groups and unions issued statements in unison, calling the remarks "a very inappropriate expression that ignores reality." The KFTA said, "Legal and administrative protections for teachers are insufficient, and the workload is severe," adding, "We express concern and regret" about the president's remarks. The teachers' union said, "Explaining the present with memories of the past sets the very starting point of policy judgment wrong," and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union said, "The 'maggots' (safety accidents) not only strip teachers of their positions but also put them in the extreme situation of becoming convicted criminals."
In recent years at schools, there have been cases in which teachers were held criminally liable for accidents that occurred during experiential learning, and, as a result, more schools canceled off-campus schedules. In fact, in 2022, when an elementary school student on an experiential learning trip to Gangwon Province was struck and killed by a bus that was backing up, the homeroom teacher was indicted on charges of occupationally negligent homicide. The court, on the grounds that the teacher neglected a duty of care, suspended a six-month prison sentence.