A study on corruption in educational administration: focusing on elementary, middle and high schools

The year 2023 was notably marked by a significant number or reports of extreme decisions made by teachers. This paper aims to explore the legal aspects of conflicts and corruption within schools as underlying causes, examining the corruption in educational administration from the perspectives of teachers, parents, and students, and proposing directions for improvement. A consensus has formed among the public regarding the severe damage to teachers' authority, and the Ministry of Education has announced policies to alleviate the burden of addressing school violence from teachers by recruiting external experts to handle these issues while protecting students' rights and preventing indiscriminate parental intervention in educational administration. Additionally, the Ministry has proposed measures to prevent extreme decisions by teachers. Among these measures, revisions were made in September 2023 to the Basic Education Act, the Special act on the improvement of teachers’ status and the protection of their educational activities, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Early Childhood Education Act, with the Special Act receiving the most significant updates. However, continuous legislative improvements are necessary for the faithful fulfillment of the state's legislative duties based on Article 31 of the Constitution. This paper reviews and evaluates the newly revised or established provisions in the Special act on the improvement of teachers’ status and the protection of their educational activities, including preventing unjust dismissal of teachers, expanding the scope of activities considered as infringement upon educational activities, introducing measures against protectors of educational activity infringement, prohibiting the reduction or concealment of such infringements, mandatory reporting of infringements, and the teacher protection indemnity project provisions. Despite the effort and time invested, many aspects were found lacking, leading to the proposal of new amendments. This study also analyzes four proposed amendments to the Teacher Status Law and offers various perspectives on boosting teachers' morale.