Students interrupting class can be removed from classrooms and cell phones can be placed separately beginning September

Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho announces the notice on the teachers’ guidance for students at the government office in Seoul on August 17. Mun Jae-won

Starting next month, if a student uses a cell phone during class, the teacher can stop him, and this can be grounds to have the cell phone removed and stored in a separate location. If a student continues to disturb the class despite a warning, then the teacher can separate him from the rest of the class and send him to another place in the classroom or to a designated place outside the classroom.

On August 17, the Ministry of Education gave a briefing at the government office in Seoul and announced its notice on the teachers’ guidance for students including these details. After the amendment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the related enforcement decree last year, the authority of the teacher to guide students was established by law. The government was to announce the specific ways in which teachers would instruct students by the end of this year, but due to the recent death of an elementary school teacher in a school in Seocho-gu, Seoul, they hurried to make the announcement. In the past, the scope and method of student guidance was determined by the individual schools and teachers. This was the first time that the government provided guidelines. The education ministry will make a pre-announcement of administration for ten days and begin applying the new guidelines in schools beginning September 1.

The latest notice describes the responsibilities of students, teachers and guardians, the specific scope and method of the teacher’s guidance, and guidance for students requiring special education. According to the notice, teachers can take from students items that interrupt the class and store them separately and can physically restrain students who engage in dangerous behavior. If a student who disturbs the class does not follow the teacher’s instructions despite a warning, then the teacher can separate him from the class. He can be sent to another seat or designated place inside the classroom or to a designated area outside the classroom. Teachers can also provide rewards, such as praises and prizes, to motivate students to study. Students who intentionally disturb educational activities by refusing to follow the teacher’s instructions can be reported for “behavior violating educational activities” according to the Special Act on the Improvement of Teachers’ Status and the Protection of Their Educational Activities.

The regulation that teachers and guardians can request a consultation with each other will provide the ground for teachers to seek a consultation with the student’s guardian. However, the teacher and the guardian must discuss the time and method of the consultation prior to the meeting, and the teacher can refuse consultations on topics outside their tasks. If there is any verbal abuse, threats, or violence during the consultation, the teacher can end the meeting. Another regulation also states that the teacher can give the guardian “advice” recommending a test, consultation, or treatment by an expert when she judges that an expert’s intervention is necessary for the healthy growth and development of the student.

The education ministry also prepared a separate announcement to protect the educational activities of kindergarten teachers. According to the notice, the head of a kindergarten must stipulate the range of educational activities conducted by kindergarten teachers, the operation of education and consultations for guardians, and procedures to handle any violations of educational activities in the kindergarten regulations. The principal must inform the guardians of the regulations and receive their consent to comply with them. If a guardian violates the regulation, the principal can suspend the child from attending the kindergarten or expel the child according to the kindergarten regulation and can also have the guardian receive parent education or counseling. Requests for consultations from anyone other than the guardian and for consultations outside the range of educational activities will be restricted.