Special education teachers demand reforms after colleague's tragic death

[Anchor]

It has been pointed out that special education teachers who guide students with disabilities often suffer from excessive workloads, making urgent measures necessary.

Last month in Incheon, a special education teacher in her 30s tragically passed away due to the stress of excessive work.

Reporter Shin Soo-bin conducted an in-depth investigation.

[Report]

["Secure special education teacher positions, resolve overcrowded classes. Resolve it!"]

Hundreds of teachers gathered to honor the elementary school special education teacher who passed away while expressing the pain of heavy workloads.

[Dong So-hee/President of Incheon Korea Teachers Organization: "I cannot teach 8 students in a class that has a capacity of 6. This is not commendable; it is illegal."]

This is a counseling note from the deceased teacher.

She often suffered from swelling on her face due to being hit by a student with disabilities and frequently injured her back, living with the pain.

[○○ Elementary School Colleague Teacher/Voice Altered: "(While guiding the children) I had a significant back injury, and there was a time when moving was very difficult. (Even when told to rest) I was sick for 3 days and came back on Thursday."]

The deceased special education teacher was responsible for 8 students, including 4 with severe disabilities, which was 2 more than the class capacity.

She had 29 hours of classes per week and also had to handle administrative tasks.

[▲▲ Elementary School Special Education Teacher/Voice Altered: "Having 29 hours of classes means that I could only handle (administrative) work after 3 PM."]

Regularly responding to parents was also a major part of her job.

[▲▲ Elementary School Special Education Teacher/Voice Altered: "Sometimes, urgent matters would lead to (parents contacting me) frequently."]

Colleague teachers have continuously requested the education office to increase class sizes and hire more teachers, but they only received responses that it was not possible.

This was due to internal standards that required the number of students to exceed the class capacity by at least 3.

[○○ Elementary School Colleague Teacher/Voice Altered: "We asked them to send even temporary teachers, but that was flatly rejected."]

In response to the criticism, the education office has belatedly launched a dedicated organization to handle the additional placement of special education teachers and the revision of internal standards.

Over the past 5 years, the increase rate of special education recipients in the country stood at 21.2%.

Overcrowded special education classes account for 10% nationwide, further exacerbating the difficulties faced by special education teachers.

In the educational field, there are calls for fundamental and practical plans to improve the treatment of special education teachers rather than one-time measures.

This is KBS News, Shin Soo-bin.

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