Plan to Record Student Rights Violations in 'Saenggibu'... Ministry of Education to Decide After Public Hearing

Ministry of Education Announces Draft Plan to Strengthen Prevention and Response to Disruptions in Educational Activities
'Serious Class Disruption' Newly Added as a Type of Educational Activity Disruption
Immediate Separation of Students and Affected Teachers in Major Disruption Cases
Consideration of Recording Disruptive Students' Actions in School Records "Decision After Public Hearing"

Students are arriving at a high school in Seoul on the 13th, two days before Teachers' Day, which is the first to be celebrated in earnest since the full resumption of face-to-face classes at schools. The photo is unrelated to the article content. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

As disruptions to classes and infringements on educational activities become increasingly severe, the Ministry of Education is strengthening teachers' authority to guide student behavior. They are also considering a plan to record incidents where students disrupt educational activities in the school life records.

On the 29th, the Ministry of Education announced a draft of the "Measures to Prevent and Strengthen Response to Infringements on Educational Activities," ensuring teachers' authority to guide students in response to repeated acts of students disobeying teachers' behavioral guidance or disrupting normal educational activities.

According to the Ministry of Education, the number of educational activity infringement cases in the first semester of this year was recorded at 1,596. The figures were 2,662 in 2019, 1,197 in 2020, and 2,269 in 2021. Due to remote classes caused by COVID-19, reports of infringements temporarily decreased in 2019 and 2020, but compared to the pre-COVID-19 period, the number of infringement cases has surged.

Recently, at a high school in Gwangju, there was an incident where a student secretly placed a mobile phone under the teacher's desk to film under the teacher's skirt. In August, a video circulated online showing a middle school student in Chungnam lying next to a teacher during class, charging and manipulating a mobile phone. These incidents have raised calls for measures to protect teachers' rights and strengthen their authority to guide students.

Comparison of Measures to Prevent and Respond to Infringements on Educational Activities (Source: Ministry of Education)

The measures to prevent and strengthen response to infringements on educational activities focus on ▲ actively responding to class disruption acts ▲ strengthening protection centered on affected teachers ▲ enhancing measures targeting infringing students and their guardians.

To enable teachers to actively guide student behavior, the Ministry plans to legislate teachers' authority to guide student behavior and newly establish "serious class disruption acts" as a type of educational activity infringement. A bill to explicitly stipulate behavioral guidance authority in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act has also been proposed.

When a serious infringement on educational activities occurs, the infringing student and the affected teacher will be immediately separated, and compensation for teachers' damages and legal support will be expanded. Currently, teachers have been indirectly separating themselves through special leave, but going forward, educational measures and suspension of attendance will be applied to infringing students.

The Ministry is also considering a plan to record measures taken against students who infringe on educational activities in the school life records. This is expected to involve adding a clause in the Teacher Status Act to document such measures in school life records. Alternatives under consideration include setting a grace period for implementation or recording the measures only from the second infringement if the initial measures are not followed.

The Ministry of Education stated, "Since there are various opinions, including concerns about stigmatizing students or increased lawsuits between teachers and students causing conflicts within schools, decisions will be made after sufficient opinion gathering such as public hearings."

Special education and psychological treatment will be mandated for students who receive measures of suspension or higher, with parental participation encouraged to strengthen educational measures. Currently, special education and psychological treatment are only mandatory before transfer under Article 6. If these measures are not followed, school principals will be empowered to impose additional disciplinary actions to enhance enforceability.

In addition to school principals, a basis will be established to actively convene the Teacher Rights Protection Committee upon request by affected teachers. The Ministry also plans to add Teacher Rights Protection Committees at education support offices in addition to those established at schools and metropolitan/provincial education offices.

To gather field opinions on the draft, the Ministry of Education will hold a meeting with students, parents, and teachers at the Gyeonggi Namdong Teacher Rights Protection Support Center on the 30th. After further opinion collection processes such as public hearings, the final measures are expected to be announced by the end of the year.

Jang Sang-yoon, Deputy Minister of Education, said, "To guarantee the learning rights of all students, the learning rights of students and the rights of teachers must be harmoniously ensured. We will gather diverse opinions from the field on the draft and actively participate in the legislative process to establish policies that can be felt at school sites."

In response, the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations stated, "Teachers in the field appeal that the biggest victims of weakened teacher rights are the powerless students in classrooms, and currently, there is no way to help those children. The behavioral guidance bill must be passed immediately to protect students' learning rights and rehabilitate students with problematic behavior."

The Federation added, "One of the biggest difficulties for teachers is the lack of immediate sanctions or measures when class disruptions or infringements on teacher rights occur, which prevents protecting the learning rights of other students. Since the authority for teachers' behavioral guidance has been specified, follow-up legislation, guidelines, and detailed manuals should be developed to clarify what sanctions and measures can be taken step-by-step and concretely in cases of class disruption or infringement on teacher rights."