As the Netflix drama "True Education" gains popularity, Gyeonggi Province superintendent-elect Ahn Min-seok proposed an open debate on whether to establish a Teachers' Rights Protection Bureau like the one in the drama.
On the 12th, Ahn said on Facebook that he had watched up to episode 10 of Netflix's "True Education," and stated accordingly. Ahn said that, because it is a drama based on a webtoon, its violent and exaggerated aspects were uncomfortable, but he takes seriously the reality that the function of schools has collapsed, adding that there must be a clear reason many parents are watching "True Education."
Referring to the Democratic Research Institute's proposal for a Teachers' Rights Protection Bureau within the Ministry of Education, Ahn said the restoration of teachers' rights is an urgent task and that he expects a decision by the Ministry of Education. He went on to propose an open debate, as the Gyeonggi Province superintendent-elect, on whether the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education should establish a "Teachers' Rights Protection Bureau."
Ahn said the Gyeonggi-style Teachers' Rights Protection Bureau is intended to restore the school community and create schools where "students are excited to go to class, teachers are respected, and parents feel at ease," adding that he would await opinions for and against.
Earlier, Lee Kyung-a, a research fellow at the Democratic Research Institute, proposed creating an Education Activity Protection Bureau similar to the Teachers' Rights Protection Bureau depicted in the drama. The researcher said the Education Activity Protection Bureau should be designed not as a punitive special body like in the drama, but as a state-responsibility control tower that integrates the management of cases that infringe on educational activities.
She added that the Ministry of Education should institutionalize the Education Activity Protection Bureau by law, and metropolitan and provincial education offices should institutionalize Education Activity Protection Support Centers, while local education support offices should set up on-site support teams to link the dispersed response system organically, and that the system should be shifted so the state and education offices are responsible for cases that infringe on educational activities.
"True Education," based on a Naver webtoon, depicts the work of a Teachers' Rights Protection Bureau created to correct problems in the field of education. Since being released as a Netflix drama, it has drawn attention at home and abroad.