The municipal education office here has taken steps to nullify a controversial ordinance to protect the human rights of students, its officials said Wednesday.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education led by conservative Superintendent Moon Yong-lin recently withdrew two cases of lawsuits it had filed with the highest court in opposition to the education ministry’s ban on schools’ enforcement of the rules.

Aimed at expanding students’ rights at school, the student human rights ordinance bans corporal punishment by teachers as well as discrimination against homosexual and pregnant students, allows rallies on school grounds and gives students the freedom to choose their own hairstyles and clothing.

Former liberal Seoul education chief Kwak No-hyun spearheaded the ordinance in January 2012, the third such move following Gyeonggi Province and Gwangju Metropolitan City, and the rule immediately took effect in the city’s elementary, middle and high schools, as well as kindergartens. (Yonhap News)