When the second semester starts, the volume of notices from school goes up. Among them, some parents now receive a document that did not exist before. "We recommend that your child receive counselling" — issued under the principal's name. This is not a homeroom teacher's personal suggestion. It is an official notice under a statutory procedure that took effect on 26 May 2026. The basis is Article 18-5 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Articles 31-5 and 31-6 of its Enforcement Decree. Here is what is new and how far it can be compelled, read from the provisions themselves.

A provision that did not exist before

The legal basis for how schools handle students' emotional and behavioural difficulties was scattered for a long time. Health screening sat in the School Health Act, student guidance in a separate ministerial notice, special education in yet another statute. On 1 April 2025, Article 18-5 (Emotional and Behavioural Support for Students) was newly inserted into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, pulling this together into a single provision.

A statute without a procedure, however, gives a school nothing to act on. The procedure came from the Enforcement Decree: Articles 31-5 and 31-6 were newly inserted on 19 February 2026 and took effect on 26 May. This second semester is the first full semester in which the procedure operates.

There are exactly three grounds for a counselling recommendation

A principal cannot issue one at will. Article 31-5(1) of the Enforcement Decree limits the grounds to three.

• Where the principal judges a recommendation necessary based on the results of a mental health status examination under Article 7(1) of the School Health Act
• Where the principal or a teacher judges a recommendation necessary based on the results of student life guidance
• Where the principal otherwise judges it necessary for the student's healthy development

The first is what triggers this most often in practice. The mental health status examination is the questionnaire administered at the start of the school year as part of the student health examination. An item a child ticked without much thought can be the starting point of this procedure.

Two steps the school must clear before recommending

To issue a recommendation, the principal must obtain the opinion of a specialist and pass it through the relevant in-school committee. Both are mandatory.

"Specialist" here is a defined list: a licensed physician, a mental health professional, a youth counsellor, a clinical psychologist, a professional counselling teacher or itinerant counselling teacher, and persons designated by the superintendent of education. One further restriction matters. The specialist must not belong to the school the student attends. The structure is deliberately not one where the teacher who teaches your child both judges and recommends.

There is one exception. Where a student has, without justifiable reason, failed to attend counselling and the school is repeating the recommendation on the same grounds, the specialist opinion and committee review may be omitted.

What follows the counselling

Attending counselling is not the end of it. Reflecting the counselling results, and after review by the relevant in-school committee, the principal may provide the following support.

• A treatment recommendation
• In-school visiting counselling by a specialist
• Referral to a specialist counselling institution or a medical institution
• Learning support
• Any other support the principal deems necessary

Learning support being on that list is worth noticing. It means there is now a basis for the school to make up the ground a student lost while struggling with emotional or behavioural difficulties. If your child is at the stage of finding it hard to attend at all, ask whether this support can be requested alongside the early response procedure.

Where "three times" changes things

The heaviest part of the framework is Article 31-6 of the Enforcement Decree. Where a student has received a counselling or treatment recommendation three or more times and failed to comply without justifiable reason, and is recognised as needing urgent support because emotional or behavioural difficulties are causing marked problems in school life, the superintendent, the head of the education office, or the principal may have the student receive counselling or treatment. This is "urgent support".

There is a proviso. Where there is a risk of serious harm to the student's life or body, urgent support is available after one or more recommendations.

The safeguards attached to urgent support

Because it carries compulsion, the requirements are heavier. To provide urgent support, the school must obtain the opinions of three or more specialists, including at least one psychiatrist, and pass the matter through the relevant committee within the institution.

Scope and notification duties are in the provision too. Urgent support must be carried out within the minimum scope necessary to resolve the problem, and the content and results must be notified to the guardian immediately once the support ends. It is not a process that runs and concludes behind a parent's back.

Article 18-5(3) of the Act, meanwhile, places a duty of cooperation on guardians — a requirement to cooperate so that counselling and treatment can proceed smoothly. If cost is the worry, read paragraph 5: the superintendent of education may support the expenses necessary for counselling and treatment. The scope differs by provincial office of education, so confirm it with the school or the district education support office.

A separate track from special education and dropout procedures

Two neighbouring procedures are easy to confuse with this one. Special education eligibility is the process of receiving special education support after diagnosis and assessment, and the dropout deliberation period gives a reflection window to a student who has stated an intention to withdraw. Emotional and behavioural support is neither. It is a separate track connecting an enrolled student to counselling, treatment and learning support, and the fact that it took place is not an item recorded in the school record.

What to check if you receive the notice

1. Check whether the document cites which provision it rests on — Article 31-5 or Article 31-6 of the Enforcement Decree. The former is a recommendation; the latter is urgent support. 2. If it is a recommendation, confirm with the homeroom teacher or counselling teacher which of the three grounds applies — the examination result or the guidance result. 3. Ask whether the specialist opinion and committee review were completed. These are procedural requirements, so the question is fair. 4. Request, at the same time, whether support including learning support is available after counselling. 5. Check with the education office whether costs are covered. 6. Keep in mind that deferring recommendations is how the count reaches three. If there is a reason you cannot comply, put that reason to the school in writing.

This article is based on Article 18-5 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (newly inserted 1 April 2025) and Articles 31-5 and 31-6 of its Enforcement Decree (newly inserted 19 February 2026, effective 26 May 2026), as of August 2026. Detailed operating standards are set by each superintendent of education and may differ by province. This article is not a medical judgement about a student's condition and not advice on diagnosis or treatment, and it does not substitute for legal advice. Confirm individual cases with your school, the competent district education support office, and where necessary a qualified medical institution.