[News Today] SCHOOLS AVOID FIELD TRIPS

[LEAD]
As the new school year kicks off, there's a notable drop in schools planning field trips. This comes after a student's tragic death on a trip led to a guilty verdict for the supervising teacher.

[REPORT]
This elementary school used to go on field trips once or twice a year.

But no plans have been made for this year.

This middle school has also delayed a field trip that was penciled in for May.

Middle school student/
I want to be outdoors rather than being at the desk. It's a pity the trips are suddenly gone.

The number of field trip days planned by elementary, middle and high schools in Gangwondo Province for 2025 is tallied at around 31-hundred days for day trips, down 40% from last year and some 13-hundred days for overnight travels, down 20%.

Schools are growing reluctant to take students on these trips due to the burden teachers face when safety incidents occurs.

In Sokcho in 2022, an elementary school student was killed after being hit by the bus he or she was travelling in for a field trip. The court recently sentenced the teacher in charge to six months in prison suspended for two years.

Some teachers are even saying they won't go on trips at all without legal protection in place.

Choi Go-bong / Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union
Teachers guiding the trips shoulder civil liability. Due to concern of possible criminal punishment, field trips including excursions are being suspended.

From June, a revised School Safety Act takes effect, exempting teachers legal liability in the case of an accident if safety measures have been implemented to the fullest.

But teachers continue to feel nervous saying they can't trust this law alone as controversy over school field trips is expected to rumble on.