[News Terms] 'Haksaeng Inkwon Jorye' at a Crossroads of Abolition

Recently, following Chungnam Province, the Student Rights Ordinance undergoing abolition procedures in Seoul is an ordinance enacted by each education office to ensure that the dignity and value of students are guaranteed and realized within the curriculum. After Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education first promulgated it in October 2010, 16 city and provincial education offices nationwide independently enacted and promulgated their own ordinances.

The Student Rights Ordinances enacted by each city and provincial education office are commonly based on Article 31 of the Constitution, Articles 12 and 13 of the Framework Act on Education, Article 18 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, containing core provisions such as ▲the right not to be discriminated against ▲freedom of expression ▲rights related to educational welfare ▲freedom of conscience and religion.

On the afternoon of April 26, when the 3rd plenary session of the Seoul Metropolitan Council's extraordinary meeting was held, rallies for and against the abolition of the Student Human Rights Ordinance took place in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Council.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Specifically, the Gyeonggi-do Student Rights Ordinance, which was the first to be implemented, includes provisions such as prohibition of discrimination and corporal punishment in schools, prohibition of forced night self-study and supplementary classes, respect for individuality in hair and clothing and prohibition of hair length regulation, inspection of belongings with student consent, partial allowance of carrying mobile phones, mandatory human rights education, and establishment of a student rights advocate.

The Seoul Student Rights Ordinance announced in 2012 attracted attention as the first ordinance to explicitly state the freedom of assembly (Article 17, Paragraph 3). Accordingly, students were allowed to hold assemblies not only outside school but also within classrooms and playgrounds. However, an exception was made that assemblies within schools could be restricted in terms of time, place, and method according to school regulations.

After the implementation of the Student Rights Ordinance centered on these contents, there was an evaluation that student rights had improved, but on the other hand, there were considerable voices that the overly emphasized student rights had weakened teachers' educational activities. In particular, after the death of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School last year, the Student Rights Ordinance was pointed out as a cause of the decline in teachers' authority, leading to political conflict. For example, when the Seoul Metropolitan Council, led by members of the People Power Party, passed a bill to abolish the ordinance on the 26th of last month, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon strongly opposed it by immediately requesting reconsideration. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, also criticized this as a "political regression that drives a nail into student rights."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education plans to announce a legislative notice on the 3rd for the ‘Ordinance on the Rights and Responsibilities of School Members,’ which integrates student rights and teachers' authority. Once this ordinance, which covers the rights and responsibilities of students, staff, and guardians, is enacted, individual ordinances like the Student Rights Ordinance will be abolished.