Controversy has erupted after a high school in North Gyeongsang Province moved to "hunt down" a teacher who watched a World Cup match with students during class. On online communities, many said it was excessive to take issue with group cheering, but there were also rebuttals that teachers should be faithful to instruction.
◇Up to a student statement… "Stop the 'hunt' immediately"
According to the education community on the 15th, some teachers at High School A in North Gyeongsang Province watched a World Cup broadcast with students during class on the 12th. It was the Korea national team's first match of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup organized by FIFA.
Korea battled the Czech Republic in a nail-biting exchange, and during the first half, students let out groans and cheers. After class ended, the match continued into the lunch break, and Korea came from behind to win 2-1. Among students, the biggest topic of the day could only be the World Cup.
The cheerful mood did not last long. Rumors spread quickly that the school had compiled a list of teachers who had students watch the World Cup instead of holding class.
A student even wrote a statement the next day. In it, the student said, "Immediately stop the coercive conduct of fiercely criticizing and trying to 'hunt down' the teachers (who turned on the World Cup during class)." The student added, "They showed the World Cup match to give us, weary from our studies, a memory we will never forget."
◇School says it considered the particular timing ahead of finals
The school said it had no choice but to first consider the possibility of infringing on the right to learn, given the particularity that it was about two weeks before final exams. Not every class could watch the World Cup match, and as a result, there were issues such as noise, it said.
An official at High School A said, "At the time, there were classes that had not finished covering the internal assessment material," adding, "If one class engages in group cheering, the noise inevitably carries to adjacent classrooms and affects instruction." The official added, "If it had not been the special circumstance of exams, it could well have been allowed."
Students, however, continue to question why the school drew up a list of teachers when it could have simply asked them to restrain themselves out of consideration for other classes' learning environments. High School A decided to solicit opinions on how to handle World Cup viewing going forward.
◇Watching World Cup matches during class is at the school's discretion
As news of the World Cup viewing issue at High School A spread on online communities and social media (SNS), various opinions emerged. Many were favorable to watching matches during class, such as, "It seems meaningful to watch together at a time when it's hard to focus on studying anyway," and "Plenty of people watched at work; can't students watch a bit at school too?"
However, there were also counterarguments such as, "It is class time, after all, so watching the World Cup is inappropriate," and "Didn't the teachers just want to watch and therefore watched with the students?"
Watching World Cup matches during class falls under the principal's discretion and the teacher's judgment. The Ministry of Education or metropolitan and provincial offices of education do not issue separate guidelines, they say. That is why some schools have students wear red from arrival for group cheering, while others ban watching matches during class.
Given that schedules for major sporting events are released in advance, experts advised that schools should solicit opinions ahead of time.
Yang Jeong-ho, a professor in the department of education at Sungkyunkwan University, said, "Since there may be students who prefer to attend class instead of watching the match, there needs to be prior consultation," adding, "It would better serve an educational purpose than taking after-the-fact measures such as compiling a list of teachers."