Elementary School Teacher's Emotional Plea to Education Minister: "Stop Making Field Trips Mandatory"

A video of an elementary school teacher tearfully urging the Minister of Education to stop making field trips mandatory has gone viral.

The video, featuring remarks by Kang Seok-jo, head of an elementary school teachers' union, during the "Education Community Meeting for Safe Field Trips" hosted by the Ministry of Education on May 7, has surpassed 5 million views just days after being posted.

Kang began by stating, "This meeting should have taken place years before teachers began to suffer."

[Kang Seok-jo/Head of Elementary School Teachers' Union: I believe a meeting like this should have been held years ago, before teachers started suffering. I feel this meeting was initiated following President Lee Jae-myung's remark about whether one should avoid making soy sauce for fear of maggots. It is deeply regrettable that it has come to this.]

He then expressed his frustration over why he, a teacher who was once passionate enough to organize eight field trips a year, has been "boycotting" them for the past two years.

He explained that the reality is that teachers are flooded with complaints from parents the day before a field trip, such as demands to pair their child with a specific student or complaints about the destination being too far and causing motion sickness.

[Kang Seok-jo/Head of Elementary School Teachers' Union: I took 200 photos of my lovely students on a field trip. Do you know what kind of complaints I received that day? 'Why is my child only in five photos?' and 'Why does my child look unhappy in this photo?' Can you solve these complaint issues, Minister of Education? Will parents stop filing these complaints?]

In particular, Kang mentioned cases where teachers were found guilty following accidents that occurred during field trips.

Regarding this, Kang demanded, "Please establish legal mechanisms that fundamentally limit the criminal and civil liability of teachers for unpredictable accidents that occur during educational activities."

He then raised his voice, saying, "Please do not make field trips mandatory."

[Kang Seok-jo/Head of Elementary School Teachers' Union: I will say just one thing. Field trips are not essential. We go on them to provide experiences for our students. Please participate in this discussion with that clearly in mind.]

He continued by urging the Minister of Education to "first create an environment where teachers can choose to go on their own."

In fact, the rate of elementary school field trips in Seoul this year was found to be only 26%. On April 28, President Lee Jae-myung addressed the trend of schools canceling field trips or school excursions due to safety concerns, stating, "Are we to get rid of the soy sauce jar because of the fear of maggots?" and ordered institutional improvements.

The Ministry of Education plans to announce measures within this month to strengthen legal immunity for teachers and protect them from excessive complaints.

Reported by Lee Hyun-young | Video by Hong Jin-young | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.