Employment of Teachers with Disabilities in the Republic of Korea — CRPD Art.27 Rights-Holder Monitoring · Forum on the 20th Anniversary of the CRPD · 18 May 2026

Slide 2

About the Report — A Monitoring Report Written by the Rights-Holders Themselves

• Monitors the employment of teachers with disabilities through CRPD Art. 27 and evaluates implementation of the 2022 Concluding Observations (CRPD/C/KOR/CO/2-3) from the rights-holders' perspective
• An intersection of Art. 27 (work) and Art. 24 (education) — disabled teachers are both educators and workers
• A blind spot of the public sector, largely absent from the State report
• “Nothing about us without us” — authored by a rights-holder and union leader

MOE–JangGyoJo collective agreement signing (2 Jun 2023)

Slide 3

Normative Basis — CRPD Article 27 and the 2022 Concluding Observations

Core Clauses of Article 27

• 1(a) Non-discrimination across all employment
• 1(b) Just and favourable conditions of work
• 1(c) Exercise of trade-union rights
• 1(d) Access to vocational training
• 1(g) Employment in the public sector
• 1(i) Reasonable accommodation at work

2022 Concluding Observations (paras 55·56)

• 56(a) Repeal discriminatory laws, end discrimination
• 56(c) Strengthen inclusive work environments
• 56(d) Affirmative action incl. quota schemes
• General Comment No. 8 (2022): public-sector measures
• Education = lowest disability employment in public sector

Slide 4

Status ① Employment Rate — Less Than Half the Statutory Employment Quota

4,545 — Teachers with disabilities nationwide (Apr 2025) — ~1.5% of all teachers

Actual ~1.5% vs Statutory quota 3.8%

• Education = the lowest disability employment in Korea's public sector
• 17 education offices' levy ≈ 70% of all civil-servant levy
• Art. 27(1)(g) public-sector employment most severely unmet

Slide 5

Status ② Composition — Severity, Type, and School-Level Disparities

Severity: Mild 84.3%, Severe 15.7%

Disability Type (%): Physical 57.4%, Visual 24.4%, Hearing 6.9%, Brain lesion 4%, Other 7.3%

School-level gap: 1 per 120 kindergartens ↔ 3 per special school (1 per 5.4 elem. / 2.7 middle / 1.4 high schools)

Slide 6

Status ③ Trend — The Number of Disabled Teachers Is Declining

Total (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025): 4622, 4608, 4584, 4545

Secondary (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025): 2344, 2249, 2203, 2110

Elementary (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025): 1297, 1355, 1383, 1325

Total −77 (−1.7%) · Secondary −234 (−10.0%) · Elementary +28 (+2.2%)

School managers fell 307→248 (−19.2%). Inflow < attrition → the support system fails to retain teachers

Slide 7

Institutional Assessment — Limits of the Legal and Institutional Framework

• Employment quota: Offset by levy payment → no real expansion of employment
• Anti-Discrimination Act: Mandates reasonable accommodation, unmet in practice; duty shifted to KEAD
• MOE HR Guideline: Non-binding guidance → arbitrary local application (Dec 2023)
• NHRCK remedy: Feb 2024 — non-provision to deaf teachers in 14 offices = discrimination

Complaint on deaf teachers — NHRCK remedy (Feb 2024)

Slide 8

Institutional Assessment — Only 9 of 17 Education Offices Have an Ordinance

Many enacted ordinances are declaratory → support hinges on the Superintendent's will and budget

9 enacted / 8 not enacted

Enacted: Busan, Daejeon, S.Chungcheong, N.Chungcheong, Incheon, Gyeonggi, S.Jeolla, N.Jeolla, Gwangju

Not enacted: Seoul, Daegu, Ulsan, Sejong, Gangwon, N.Gyeongsang, S.Gyeongsang, Jeju

Slide 9

Status ④ Accommodation Budget — Accommodation Decided by Workplace — a 765× Gap

Slide 10

Accommodation Reality — A Gap Between Awareness and Reality — and a Digital Barrier

Digital access: NEIS/K-EduFine inaccessible; accessibility absent from learning-software selection; incomplete alternative materials

• Support type · Need (all) · Need (severe)
• Human support · 35.8% · 59.6%
• Assistive tech · 36.6% · 56.3%
• Facilities · 39.7% · —
• Work environment · 49.6% · —

• 37% of those needing human support never requested it
• Visual assistive-tech 93.8% · Deaf communication device 100%
• 75.9% want a dedicated unit — yet none exists

“On the ground, the work assistant becomes the disabled teacher's eyes, ears, hands and feet.”
— Teacher B with a physical disability (Cheonji Ilbo, 25 Sep 2025)

Slide 11

Trade-Union Rights · Participation — The World's Only Union of Teachers with Disabilities

• JangGyoJo — founded 6 Jul 2019 (45 members); 207 members (Dec 2025); 5 regional branches
• The most direct exercise of Art. 27(1)(c) — a self-organized response to being “hired but not employed”
• Collective agreement with the MOE (2 Jun 2023; 49 articles, 62 clauses) — unprecedented worldwide

JangGyoJo's 6th anniversary

Slide 12

Outcomes of Participation — Progress Built by the Rights-Holders

• Legislation: 2021 Educational Officials Act · 2024 alt-materials amendment · 2025 constitutional complaint (2025Hun-Ma1551)
• Local gains: Ordinances (Jeonnam 2023.4, Incheon 2025.4) · Gyeonggi KRW 5m/yr cap · time-off (2024)
• Anti-discrimination: Jinju NUE exam fraud (2021) · NHRCK remedy for deaf teachers (2024) · K-University finding (2023)

Press conference for inclusive teacher policy (Jul 2025)

Slide 13

Existential Value — Disabled Teachers Are a ‘Living Curriculum’

As ‘wounded healers,’ their very presence is a living curriculum that teaches diversity.

A powerful reality that shifts the image from ‘protected object’ to ‘competent professional and social mentor.’

“Education is meaningful only when words are matched by practice.”
— Teacher K with a visual impairment (Kyunghyang, 22 Apr 2024)

A blind teacher appointed as principal (Daejeon School for the Blind) — a competent professional

Slide 14

Monitoring Assessment — CRPD Article 27 Implementation Matrix

Concluding Observations para 56: 56(a) Inadequate · 56(b) Partial · 56(c) Inadequate · 56(d) Partial

• 1(a) Non-discrimination: 부분
• 1(b) Just conditions of work: 미흡
• 1(c) Trade-union rights: 이행
• 1(d) Access to training: 미흡
• 1(e) Career advancement: 부분
• 1(g) Public-sector employment: 부분
• 1(i) Reasonable accommodation: 미흡

Slide 15

Policy Recommendations — Five Tasks for Implementing CRPD Article 27

• A Special Act for Disabled Teachers — Codify duties, accommodation procedures, centers, funding
• Establish support centers — Single intake point, assistive tech, human support
• Standardize accommodation in HR — Mandatory special admission; codified exam standards
• Guarantee accessible environments — NEIS/learning-SW access, alt-materials, BF certification
• Institutionalize participation — ≥30% on committees, statutory council, time-off premium