This Year, 60 Cases of 'Haksaeng In-gwon' Counseling... Rights Remedies and Reporting Obligations Also Disappear

'Student Rights Ordinance Abolished' Leads to Removal of Legal Basis
300-400 Consultations Conducted Annually Recently
Human Rights Commission: "Student Rights Violations Relief in Blind Spot"

It has been confirmed that 60 cases of student human rights consultations were conducted in the first quarter of this year at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. More than half of these cases resulted in actual rights relief measures. However, if the 'Student Human Rights Ordinance' is abolished, the legal basis for student human rights consultations and status reporting will disappear, making it highly likely that consultations and rights relief will be suspended.

According to the student human rights consultation and rights relief status posted on the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Student Human Rights Education Center website on the 8th, 60 student human rights consultations were conducted during the first quarter (January to March) of this year.

In recent years, the total number of student consultations has remained between 300 and 400 cases annually. The number of consultations, which peaked at 1,551 cases seven years ago in 2017, decreased to 193 cases in 2019, then rose again to around 400 cases during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Last year, it recorded 391 cases.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is announcing the 'Support Measures for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Risks in the Classroom' on February 14 at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Among all consultations, 53 cases (37 carried over, 16 this year) led to actual rights relief measures. In the past year, a total of 181 rights relief measures were implemented. Among the consultations conducted earlier this year, verbal abuse was the most common type with 11 cases. This was followed by ▲privacy (9 cases) ▲individuality (8 cases) ▲school violence (3 cases).

However, if the Student Human Rights Ordinance, which serves as the basis for student human rights consultations, is abolished, consultations and relief measures exclusively for student human rights are likely to be suspended or reduced. According to Article 49, Paragraph 8 of the current Seoul Student Human Rights Ordinance, the Student Human Rights Advocate can notify the perpetrator or the Superintendent of Education of the results of relief measures if necessary and make them public. Related information is posted quarterly on the Student Human Rights Education Center website. However, with the passage of the abolition ordinance last month, the legal basis will disappear and is expected to be revised into the 'Ordinance on the Rights and Responsibilities of School Members.'

An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Student Human Rights Education Center explained, "If the ordinance is abolished, (student human rights consultations and rights relief) are expected to proceed through other general civil complaint procedures," adding, "If the ordinance that serves as the basis for rights relief disappears, the corresponding parts may also be reduced."

When the office of Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young inquired the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education yesterday about the 'expected changes due to the abolition of the Student Human Rights Ordinance,' the office responded, "The legal basis for filing rights relief claims for human rights violations, including those of students, will disappear, and difficulties may arise in taking measures regarding human rights violations."

In December last year, the National Human Rights Commission also expressed its opinion regarding the request to abolish the Student Human Rights Ordinance, stating, "If the ordinance is abolished, an important norm for determining whether student human rights violations have occurred will be left vacant, and the basis for human rights violation consultations, relief applications, and student human rights organizations will disappear, placing rights relief for student human rights violations in a blind spot."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to request reconsideration of the Student Human Rights Ordinance abolition bill to the Seoul Metropolitan Council next week. Local education superintendents can request reconsideration within 20 days from the date they receive the resolution.