Middle School Excluding Female Teachers from Head Positions... Human Rights Commission Urges Improvement of Gender Discrimination Practices

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The National Human Rights Commission announced on the 27th that it has recommended a middle school, which assigned department head positions only to male teachers, to improve its discriminatory practices based on gender.

A complainant, a teacher at A Middle School, filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, stating that the school operated with gender-discriminatory practices by assigning department head positions exclusively to male teachers. Through its investigation, the Commission confirmed that until the complaint was filed, A Middle School had appointed only male teachers to department head positions, and no female teacher had ever held such a position.

In response, A Middle School stated, "Female teachers first joined in 1992, and during a period when there were many older male teachers, female teachers had shorter tenure and thus could not take on department head roles." The school added, "The department head position is not a promotion but rather a difficult and demanding role that teachers nowadays do not prefer, so female teachers were not assigned to these positions."

However, the Human Rights Commission found the school's claim unreasonable, noting that male teachers who joined later than female teachers were appointed as department heads. The Commission stated, "Holding a department head position means participating in key decision-making at the school and having the opportunity to be promoted to management positions," and concluded that this practice does not support female teachers but rather fundamentally blocks such opportunities.

The Commission recommended that the principal of A Middle School improve discriminatory practices by considering gender balance when appointing department heads and ensuring female teachers' participation in the school's key decision-making bodies.