Cho Hee-yeon: "Excluding Foreign Students from Special Care Support Fund is Discrimination... Urging Ministry of Education Cooperation"

Foreign National Students Subject to Tax Obligations
Exclusion from Support Shows Inconsistency
Ministry of Education Urges Constructive Cooperation

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, urged the Ministry of Education to positively cooperate in providing the 200,000 KRW special care and non-face-to-face learning support fund for Adol to students with foreign nationality as well.

On the 29th, Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon stated in a press release, "It is difficult to understand the exclusion of students simply because they have foreign nationality," adding, "Decisions to exclude certain groups within the school community can leave wounds not only to the students and parents involved but to all members of the school."

Previously, the Ministry of Health and Welfare decided to provide 200,000 KRW per child for children of elementary school age or younger and 150,000 KRW per child for middle school age children to households raising children, using the budget prepared through the 4th supplementary budget. However, students with foreign nationality were excluded from the support, sparking controversy over discrimination.

Superintendent Cho pointed out that this is not in line with the values of the Seoul Student Human Rights Ordinance, which has been in effect since 2012. He argued, "The ordinance clearly states that students have the right not to be discriminated against based on gender, religion, origin, nationality, ethnicity, and so on."

He criticized the exclusion of families of foreign nationality students from rights despite paying income tax domestically. Superintendent Cho said, "If the obligation to pay taxes is enforced but support funded by taxes excludes them, it would be an inconsistent measure," adding, "We must remember that everyone is suffering equally in the COVID-19 situation."

He also revealed that after the government's aforementioned measure, he planned to support students with foreign nationality using the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's budget, but was unable to implement it due to a ruling by the Election Commission that it violated the Public Official Election Act.

In conclusion, he emphasized, "If resources are insufficient at the central government level, I will take the lead in cooperating with the National Association of Metropolitan and Provincial Superintendents of Education so that all education offices actively provide allowances to students with foreign nationality," and "I once again urge the Ministry of Education, which should play a key role, to cooperate proactively."