Human Rights Commission: "Government Must Actively Manage and Control Sexual Harassment-Related Teacher Evaluations"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has determined that the government's failure to actively manage and control sexually harassing responses in teacher evaluations constitutes an infringement on teachers' personal rights.

On the 18th, the NHRCK announced that on the 15th it recommended the Minister of Education to fully review the descriptive questions in teacher evaluations and implement measures such as human rights education.

According to the NHRCK, last year, teacher A and the victims confirmed that sexually harassing remarks were written in the descriptive responses of the student satisfaction survey conducted under the Ministry of Education's supervision. Teacher A and the victims filed complaints with the Ministry of Education requesting that the author be identified and appropriate action taken, but the Ministry responded passively, stating that it could not identify the student who wrote the remarks. Consequently, Teacher A and the victims filed a petition with the NHRCK, claiming that the Ministry neglected and ignored the violation of teachers' human rights. The Ministry of Education responded by stating that it had "enhanced filtering of personally attacking and insulting responses in the descriptive questions of teacher evaluations" and "improved the system by posting warning phrases such as 'You may be punished according to relevant laws.'"

Regarding the Ministry of Education's response, the NHRCK pointed out, "The responses to the descriptive questions delivered to the petitioners and victims contain content that causes sexual humiliation and disgust," adding, "They are completely unrelated to educational activities and rather infringe on the personal rights of the teachers being evaluated, causing feelings of sexual degradation." Furthermore, the NHRCK stated, "As the implementing authority of teacher evaluations, the Minister of Education has the duty to guarantee and protect teachers' human rights," and "If human rights violations against teachers occur, active intervention and measures can be expected to protect not only the affected teachers but also the students' right to learn."