As a field trip expense exceeding 600,000 won is stirring controversy online, a current teacher stepped forward to explain the expense structure directly.
According to the education sector on the 13th, a person identified as a current teacher, referred to as A, posted an article titled "A response to the controversy over field trip fees" on an online community.
A said that field trips are pursued after a prior demand survey and explained that a travel agency is selected through an open competitive bidding process by a preparation committee that includes teachers and parents.
A added that private contracts are not possible and that most vendors are chosen through the lowest-bid tender, and said that after the bidding, parents and teachers conduct advance inspections together and make efforts to reduce the expense.
However, regarding why the high price is unavoidable, A said it is due to strengthened safety regulations. After the Sewol ferry disaster, stricter safety rules made the deployment of professionals mandatory, creating a structure in which the labor cost burden is inevitably passed on in full.
A said, for 200 people, 8 to 10 safety personnel are needed, and added that considering day-and-night shifts, the labor cost burden is bound to grow.
A also said there are cases without education office subsidies, which can create expense differences by school, and that as the quality of field trips rises, it is hard to avoid expense increases.
The field trip expense controversy began on the 7th, when a parent posted that domestic field trip expenses are excessive. The writer, who said they have a child in the third year of middle school, said the child is debating whether to go on the field trip because of the 600,000 won expense.
Internet users also reacted by saying, "The expense has increased sharply compared with the past" and "Now that travel has become common, is there a need to pay a large expense to go on a field trip?"