Education office pushes rights rules

Civic groups hold rallies in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Monday, calling for the resignation of the superintendent Kwak No-hyun and abolishing the controversial student rights ordinance proclaimed by the office last week. (Yonhap News)

Ministry says action violates law guaranteeing schools’ independence


The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education ordered schools in the capital to revise their student conduct rules according to the ordinance on the enhancement of students’ rights proclaimed last week, officials said Monday.

The SMOE has distributed guidelines to all elementary and secondary schools as a reference to revise their school rules last week, they said.

But the Education Ministry, which has opposed to the student rights ordinance, ordered the SMOE to delay the instruction until the Supreme Court makes a final decision on the petition filed by the ministry to nullify the ordinance.

The reference distributed to each school lists guidelines reflecting the ordinance in some of the controversial clauses about corporal punishment, freedom to choose hairstyle and clothing and collective action on school grounds.

“We have noticed some confusion in schools about giving students such freedom. We made clear in the guideline that teachers can follow and instruct students in a more educational way,” said an official with SMOE.

According to the guideline, teachers can direct “educational instruction” to students who dyed their hair or had a perm if needed.

But it prohibited any form of corporal punishment on school grounds.

Some teachers raised questions whether indirect corporal punishment is forbidden such as having students raise arms.

The ordinance states students must be free from any physical, verbal violence.

But the ministry said the SMOE’s order to change school rules violates schools’ autonomy guaranteed by the national law.

“We consider the ordinance itself is invalid as it has some serious procedural flaws as the SMOE ignored the order of the education minister to reconsider it. And as we filed the petition to nullify it last week, we are concerned schools will face confusions from the SMOE’s order to change their rules,” said education officials.

The Education Ministry also vowed to take a stern action by canceling the SMOE’s order to local schools if the education office doesn’t follow its order until Feb. 7.

Meanwhile, the SMOE’s Superintendent Kwak No-hyun showed up to work on Monday after nine days of vacation for the Lunar New Year’s holiday amid anti-ordinance protests in front of the office.

Kwak proclaimed the ordinance to be part of his liberal education reform right after he was released from jail for election bribery charges.

He was convicted of giving bribes to a rival candidate in exchange for withdrawal during the superintendent election in 2010. He was fined 30 million won ($25,000) for his charges and returned to his job.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)