Seoul school superintendent fights to preserve controversial student rights ordinance

Cho's demonstration came as the city council plans to abolish and replace the student rights ordinance. The new ordinance imposes stronger duties on students and protects the classroom authority of teachers.

Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stages a protest at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, downtown Seoul, on Wednesday opposing the controversial abolition of the student rights ordinance. [NEWS1]

Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Cho Hee-yeon, staged a one-person protest in downtown Seoul on Wednesday to oppose the abolition of the controversial student rights ordinance.

Cho's demonstration came as the city council plans to abolish and replace the student rights ordinance. The new ordinance, pushed by conservative People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers, imposes stronger duties on students and protects the classroom authority of teachers.

“Some say that the recent issue of malicious reports against schools and the violation of teachers' rights are due to the student rights ordinance, a claim I completely disagree with,” Cho told the local press at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on Wednesday morning.

Cho stressed that the abolition of the ordinance would revert “the education scene back to conflict and confusion,” adding that schools that fail to protect students’ rights will ultimately fail to guarantee teachers’ rights.

“Students' rights should evolve along with teachers' rights rather than one becoming weaker as the other improves,” he said.

“The history of promoting students' rights so far [in Korea] should not be rolled back.”

The education chief plans to stage the morning protest across the capital, including Gwangjin District in eastern Seoul and Gangnam District in southern Seoul, for eight days from Wednesday until Dec. 22, when the plenary session of the Seoul Metropolitan Council ends.

The capital's education office anticipates that the abolition of the ordinance will be discussed between next Monday and Tuesday and put to a vote during the city council's plenary session next Friday.

The student human rights ordinances were first enacted in 2010 in Gyeonggi, followed by five other local educational offices, including Seoul. The ordinances ban corporal punishment by teachers and better protect students against discrimination or abuse based on religion, gender identity, or socioeconomic status. They also give students more rights, including lifting restrictions on hairstyles and clothing.

While the intention of the ordinances to promote student individuality was praised, teachers have complained over the years about their diminishing authority.

The student rights ordinance was blamed as one of the causes of the collapsing rights of teachers in classrooms following the apparent suicide of a young teacher in southern Seoul in August.

“We will exercise our veto rights and request reconsideration to see if the abolishment of the ordinance could potentially violate existing laws or significantly hinder the public interest if the abolition is agreed during the plenary session,” Cho said, adding that he will call for educational chiefs in other regions to come together to protest the idea.

Of the local educational offices that have enacted the ordinance, South Chungcheong may become the first region to abolish it with a vote set for its plenary session on Friday.

North Jeolla is pushing for a revised version of the ordinance, while Jeju plans to maintain the original ordinance.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]